IC-NRLF 


IDI 


Hllillll 


Maim  Utk 


TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO  STUDY 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
ATLANTA  •    SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON   •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


TEACHING   CHILDREN 
TO   STUDY 

THE   GROUP  SYSTEM  APPLIED 


BY 
OLIVE   M.   JONES 

PRINCIPAL,  PUBLIC   SCHOOL   I2O 
AND 

ELEANOR  G.  LEARY  AND  AGNES  E.  QUISH 

TEACHERS,   PUBLIC   SCHOOL    I2O 
NEW   YORK 


gork 

THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1910 

Att  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1906,  1908, 
BY  "  SCHOOL  WORK." 

COPYRIGHT,  1909, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  June,  1909.     Reprinted 
May,  1910. 


Nortoooti  tfrraB 

J.  8.  Cashing  Co.  —  Berwick  A,  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

THE  purpose  of  this  volume  is  to  put  forth  in 
a  practical  manner  the  methods  of  using  the 
Group  System  so  as  to  secure  the  accomplish- 
ment of  its  two  great  aims:  (i)  To  give  the  child 
habits  of  self-reliant  study ;  (2)  to  secure  for  the 
exceptional  child,  either  the  abnormally  bright  or 
the  abnormally  slow,  teaching  adapted  to  his  indi- 
vidual needs.  No  effort  has  been  made  to  write 
a  scientific  pedagogical  treatise,  but  rather  to  pre- 
sent to  the  class-room  teacher  a  clear  and  practi- 
cal exposition  of  the  Group  System,  and  definite 
suggestion  as  to  the  details  of  its  plans  and 
management. 

For  four  years  the  writers  have  been  collecting 
suggestions  on  the  subject  of  the  Group  System. 
From  time  to  time  they  have  written  on  this 
subject;  first  in  School  Work,  in  1906,  and  later 
in  Teachers  Magazine.  Much  of  the  material 
has  been  used  in  lectures  by  Miss  Jones.  The 
writers,  therefore,  feel  that  it  has  been  thoroughly 


vi  PREFACE 

tested  as  to  its  truth  and  practical  value.  For 
publication  in  this  volume,  all  the  material  gath- 
ered has  been  sifted  and  revised,  according  to  the 
results  of  experience  in  its  use,  and  the  best  of 
it  all  selected  and  explained. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  mention  by  name 
the  many  principals  of  schools  in  New  York,  and 
superintendents  and  principals  of  schools  in  other 
cities,  who  have  given  much  kindly  help  and 
suggestion.  Especial  mention  of  heartiest  thanks 
for  much  valuable  assistance  must,  however,  be 
made  to  Dr.  Andrew  W.  Edson,  Associate  City 
Superintendent,  and  Miss  Julia  Richman,  District 
Superintendent,  of  schools  in  New  York  City, 
and  to  Miss  Elizabeth  S.  Harris  and  Miss  Mari- 
etta J.  Tibbits,  Principals  of  Public  Schools  65 

and  137,  New  York. 

O.  M.  J. 

1909. 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTORY 

CHAPTER  I 
THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  GROUP  SYSTEM 

PART   I 

THE  GROUP    SYSTEM    IN    PRACTICE 

CHAPTER   II 
LIMITATIONS  AND  ADVANTAGES 12 

CHAPTER   III 
SCHEMES  OF  GROUPING 24 

CHAPTER   IV 
CLASSIFICATION  INTO  GROUPS 34 

CHAPTER  V 
THE  DAILY  PROGRAM 47 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE  INSTRUCTION  PERIOD 58 

CHAPTER  VII 
THE  STUDY  PERIOD  AND  SEAT  WORK  —  PREPARATION  AND 

SUPERVISION    .  68 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   VIII 

PAGE 

THE  STUDY  PERIOD  AND  SEAT  WORK  —  PRACTICAL  MAN- 
AGEMENT          79 

PART    II 

PLANS    AND    TYPES    OF    SEAT   WORK 

CHAPTER   IX 
READING 86 

CHAPTER   X 
COMPOSITION,  LANGUAGE,  SPELLING 102 

CHAPTER  XI 
ARITHMETIC  ...  133 

CHAPTER  XII 
HISTORY 147 

CHAPTER  XIII 
GEOGRAPHY .156 

CHAPTER  XIV 
MANUAL  TRAINING 166 

INDEX 191 


TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO  STUDY 


TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO  STUDY 


CHAPTER  I 

THE     DEVELOPMENT     OF     THE     GROUP      SYSTEM     AN 
EVOLUTION 

THE  phrase  made  immortal  by  President  Lincoln 
"that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for 
the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth,"  has 
become  the  expression  of  an  American  principle.  Education 
On  that  principle  our  republic  stands.  A  well- 
recognized  corollary  of  that  principle  is  that  the 
first  requisite  for  a  safe  administration  of  "  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people," 
is  education.  Only  through  education  can  liberty 
be  preserved  from  demagogism,  monarchism,  or  an- 
archism. So  rooted  is  this  conviction  that  through- 
out our  land  the  school  system  is  probably  the  most 
thoroughly  organized  department  of  public  work. 

The    beginnings  on  which  this  system  has  been  its  begin- 

•u    "I  •  111  i  •  •       nings:    the 

built  contained    no  such  elaborate  machinery  as  is  district 
familiar    to    us.     The     "deestrick    school,"    made 


TEACHING '  CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

familiar  to  us  by  play  and  story,  had  little  of  ma- 
chinery and  little  of  imposed  system.  The  master 
directed  study,  the  pupils  recited  one  at  a  time,  and 
such  actual  teaching  as  was  given  was  individual 
instruction.  As  the  district  school  grew  in  numbers, 
the  master's  time  for  actual  teaching  decreased,  the 
work  degenerated  into  a  mere  hearing  of  lessons, 
its  failures,  and  the  child  was  overburdened  with  home  study, 
work  unexplained  and  little  comprehended.  To 
remedy  these  imperfect  conditions  the  graded  school 
was  invented,  and  out  of  that  the  present  school 
system  has  evolved  itself,  an  enormous  machine  de- 
vised to  educate  children  with  the  least  waste  of 
effort,  time,  or  money. 

The  graded  Education  became  organized  with  definite  stages 
leading  to  definite  goals,  recognized  by  teachers 
and  pupils,  and  so  arranged  that  many  might  be 
engaged  in  the  same  work  at  the  same  time.  The 
system  of  class  instruction  had  replaced  individual 
instruction.  Besides  the  advantage  directly  aimed 
at  and  already  indicated,  some  other  educative  in- 
fluences at  once  resulted.  These  were  the  sub- 
Results  for  ordination  of  individual,  selfish  desires,  the  appeal 

good  and  .  .    .         p 

evil.  to  emulation,  and  the  rousing  of  the  spirit  of  com- 

petition.    But  almost   immediately  did   it   become 


THE   GROUP   SYSTEM   AN   EVOLUTION  3 

evident  that,  although  much  unexpected  good  had 
accompanied  the  establishment  of  the  graded  school, 
with  its  system  of  class  instruction,  some  of  the  old 
evils  of  the  district  school  continued  to  exist.  The 
work  of  the  school  had  become  organized,  and 
children  were  classified  according  to  attainments,  so 
that  there  was  much  slighter  degree  of  difference 
between  the  best  and  the  poorest  children  grouped 
in  the  same  room  or  class ;  but  lessons  were  still  set 
and  heard,  rote  memorizing  of  lessons  ill  taught 
and  uncomprehended  was  the  only  form  of  study, 
and  the  burden  of  home  work  was  as  iniquitous  as 
ever.  In  addition,  it  was  soon  learned  that  attempts 
to  enforce  a  close  grading  resulted  in  the  directing 
of  instruction  only  to  the  needs  of  the  majority,  that 
this  neglect  of  the  needs  of  the  majority  caused  a 
deadening  influence,  and  that  this  deadening  in- 
fluence manifested  itself  in  the  discouragement  of 
the  brightest  and  the  slowest  children  and  in  de- 
creased numbers  in  the  higher  grades. 

The  inevitable  difficulties  of  the   graded   school  Relief 

.....  sought  in  a 

system  once  realized,  relief  was  sought,  at  first  in  reform  of 

r  riii  methods  of 

a  reiorm  ot  method,  and  method  was  made  a  matter  teaching, 
of  scientific  study.     The  teacher's  results,  i.e.  how 
much  her  pupils  know,  once  tested  by  rigid  examina- 


4  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

tions  and  considered  carefully  in  marking  her  rating 
and  record,  were  forgotten  in  the  criticism  of  how 
she  prepared,  presented,  developed  a  lesson,  ques- 
tions which  became  so  important  a  part  of  our 
pedagogical  catechism  that  we  forgot  that  for  the 
salvation  of  the  child's  soul  intellectually,  as  well  as 
morally,  there  must  be  much  of  the  self-effort  which 
means  power.  So  it  was  that,  instead  of  relief, 
other  new  evils  followed.  We  have  let  our  pendu- 
lum swing  to  the  other  extreme,  and  to-day  we  are 
anticipating  and  making  easy  every  step,  until  the 
child  has  too  little  independent  work  to  do  and  is 
unable  to  work  alone.  In  consequence,  he  does  not 
know  how  to  fix  knowledge  in  his  mind  for  himself ; 
he  cannot  select  essentials ;  in  a  word,  he  lacks  self- 
reliance,  and  does  not  know  how  to  do  independent 
study. 

Notwithstanding,  then,  the  wonderful  reforms  in 
methods  of  teaching  brought  about  in  the  last  fifty 
years,  the  schools  still  faced  an  unsolved  problem. 
There  was  still  either  too  heavy  a  burden  or  too  little 
training  in  habits  of  independent  study.  There 
existed  the  same  worry  and  strain  among  children 
about  promotion,  among  teachers  about  the  ac- 
complishment of  grade  work.  There  still  continued 


THE    GROUP   SYSTEM   AN   EVOLUTION  5 

the  same  frightful  decrease  in  numbers  as  the  upper  Neglect 

oftheexcep- 

grades  were  reached,  pointing  towards  discourage-  tionai  child, 
ment  and  distaste  for  school  and  study  as  among  its 
causes.  It  became  apparent  that  great  injustice 
was  being  done  to  two  classes  of  children,  the  bright 
child  and  the  exceedingly  dull.  The  scheme  of 
a  graded  school  produced  higher  general  averages 
and  enabled  a  larger  part  of  a  class  to  advance  more 
rapidly;  but,  as  Superintendent  Kennedy  says, 
"The  machinery  of  our  graded  school  ran  amuck  in 
its  false  assumption  of  uniformity  in  the  nature  of 
children  and  in  their  environment  and  in  its  mis- 
placed faith  in  uniform  methods  of  teaching  and 
treatment."  The  exceptional  child,  the  one  above 
as  well  as  the  one  below  the  general  average,  was  lost, 
neglected;  habits  of  truancy  and  disorder  were 
formed,  or  at  best,  when  discipline  was  too  strong 
for  either  of  these,  then,  habits  of  listening  with 
closed  ears,  inattentive  minds,  and  a  firm  determi- 
nation to  get  away  from  the  restraints  of  the  school- 
room as  soon  as  permitted  by  law. 

Such  conditions  existing  and  allowed  to  continue,  Therefore 
the  school  has  failed  in  its  mission.     It  is  not  pro- 
viding  the  education  which  is  to  preserve  our  Ameri- 
can  principle,  for  government  by  the  people  and  for 


6  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

the  people  demands  that  each  individual  be  pre- 
pared to  share  individually  and  intelligently  in  the 
duties  of  government. 

Relief  Prominent   educators   have,   therefore,    sought   a 

special  "  remedy  in  special  plans  of  promotion  and  classi- 
promodon.  fication,  and  of  these  the  Group  System  is  an  evolu- 
tion as  well  as  a  compromise.  Noting  only  those 
which  were  enthusiastically  advertised  as  having 
specific  power  to  assist  in  removing  the  conditions 
Pueblo  already  described,  we  shall  consider  first  the  Pueblo 
plan,  with  its  long  study  periods,  class  recitation,  and 
pupils  advancing  under  the  individual  direction  of 
the  teacher.  But  the  Pueblo  loses  many,  if  not  most, 
of  the  advantages  of  the  graded  system  in  its  lack 
of  a  social  whole.  Probably  of  all  these  special 
promotion  schemes,  more  was  hoped  for  from  the 
Cambridge'  Cambridge  plan,  permitting  the  child  to  finish  his 
1  school  course  in  four,  five,  or  six  years,  according 
to  his  ability ;  but  while  the  Cambridge  plan  allevi- 
ates the  evils  of  the  graded  class  system  in  that  it 
provides  a  stopping  place  for  the  slow  child  and  a 
point  at  which  the  bright  child  may  forge  ahead, 
yet  many  individuals  drop  out  for  lack  of  interest 
and  of  personal  touch  and  aid  of  the  teacher.  Two 
promotion  plans,  which  found  little  favor  in  America, 


plan. 


THE   GROUP   SYSTEM   AN   EVOLUTION  7 

two  worthy  of  mention  as  efforts  elsewhere  to  seek 
relief,  are  the  English  Pupil-teacher  plan  and  the  European 
German  Blocking   System,   consisting  of  alternate 
class  and  study  periods. 

In  New  York  City  schools  have  been  tried  several  New  York 

.  City  experi- 

expenments  to  meet  the  needs  01  the  exceptional  ments. 
child,  not  meaning  thereby  the  mental  defective. 
One  of  these,  an  interesting  account  of  which  ap- 
peared in  the  Educational  Review  of  June,  1898, 
provides  that  each  grade  shall  be  divided  into  classes 
for  slow  and  bright  pupils.  The  same  idea  was  ex-jf 
tended  a  little  further  in  another  school,  where  the 
plan  entails  three  divisions :  one,  the  bright  children 
of  the  grade;  second,  the  slow  pupils  of  the  same 
grade;  and  third,  the  over-age  children  of  the  two 
grades  in  the  same  year.  In  both  these  schemes 
the  divisions  progress  at  a  different  rate  of  progress, 
the  brighter  child  doing  more  extensive  and  intensive 
work  on  the  same  subject-matter,  and  both  plans 
allow  the  children  to  pass  from  one  division  to  an- 
other at  the  end  of  a  term,  according  to  the  differences 
in  development  of  their  mental  capacity. 

Best  known  of  all  experiments  is  the  Batavia  plan,  Batavia 
devised  almost  accidentally  by  Superintendent  John  J 
Kennedy  in  1898.   The  central  idea  is  a  stated  period 


8  TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

for  individual  instruction  to  alternate  with  class  work. 
Because  the  plan  began  with  an  accidental  necessity 
of  placing  an  extra  teacher  in  an  overcrowded  room, 
it  has  been  thought  that  the  Batavia  plan  has  as  an 
essential  two  teachers  in  a  room.  But  this  is  an 
error,  for  the  plan  may  be  worked  with  one  teacher 
with  one  grade,  one  teacher  with  two  grades,  and 
two  teachers  with  two  grades  in  a  room.  It  is 
organized  individual  instruction  supplementing  mass 
or  class  instruction;  the  child  has  all  the  educative 
influences,  already  referred  to,  that  result  from  class 
instruction,  and  yet  is  systematically  helped  in  his 
own  weaknesses. 

Elizabeth  A  grouping  system  has  long  been  in  use  in  the 
grouping,  schools  of  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey.  Four  or  five  groups 
are  taught  in  one  room ;  reclassification  is  frequent, 
and  promotion  is  made  from  group  to  group,  room 
to  room;  but  it  has  disadvantages,  too,  for  there 
are  the  dangers  of  basing  promotion  on  a  knowledge 
standard  only,  and  of  having  the  same  deadening 
uniformity  prevail  in  the  division  into  groups  as 
into  classes,  since  the  grouping  is  formally  made  and 
maintained  for  definite,  formally  fixed  periods. 

The  experiment  in  the  use  of  the  Group  System 
began  in  New  York  City  through  needs  and  con- 


THE   GROUP   SYSTEM   AN   EVOLUTION  9 

ditions  forced  upon  attention  by  the  establishment  The  Group 

System  in 

of    the    so-called    special   classes.     These   special  special 

classes  in 

classes,  known  as  C,  D,  and  E  classes  of  each  school  New  York 
year,  were  organized  for  three  distinct  purposes. 
The  first,  or  C  class,  is  to  teach  English  to  non-Eng- 
lish-speaking immigrant  children.  The  second  class, 
or  E  class,  is  to  give  the  over-age  child  special,  in- 
dividual, personal  instruction  which  will  fit  him  as 
rapidly  as  possible  to  advance  to  the  grade  in  which 
his  age  entitles  him  to  be  placed,  but  below  which 
he  has  fallen  for  various  reasons.  The  D  class,  is 
to  enable  the  child  who  is  at  or  near  the  age  when 
the  law  allows  him  to  go  to  work,  but  who  fails 
to  meet  the  scholarship  requirements  of  the  Child 
Labor  Law,  and  for  whose  personal  or  family  needs 
it  is  imperative  that  he  become  wage-earning,  to 
obtain  the  necessary  teaching  and  training  more 
rapidly  than  would  be  possible  in  a  large  class  of  the 
regular  grade.  The  very  manner  of  formation  of  N- 
these  special  classes  will  naturally  enough  bring  to- 
gether in  one  room  the  careless  student,  the  mentally 
inapt,  the  unwilling  and  the  disorderly  pupil,  children 
widely  different  in  mental  power  and  attainment. 
It  necessarily  follows  that  three  or  four  grades  will 
be  represented  in  one  room,  and  that  practically 


io 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 


Experi- 


the  same  condition  exists  as  in  ungraded  or  country 
schools.  Teaching  such  a  class  as  a  whole  is  a 
practical  impossibility,  is  manifestly  unfair  to  the 
children,  and  is  the  cause  of  the  failure  and  con- 
sequent discredit  which  attended  the  formation  of 
such  classes  in  some  places.  To  work  with  the  class 
as  a  whole,  where  would  the  teacher  begin  work? 
Could  she  carry  each  with  any  degree  of  rapidity? 
What  about  the  fairness  of  making  those  of  the 
highest  grade  wait  while  the  others  were  catching 
up  to  them? 

The  advantages  resulting  from  the  use  of  a  Group 
System  in  these  special  classes  led  to  experiment  with 
its  use  in  regular  classes  in  the  schools  of  New  York 
City.  Its  recommendation  by  the  city  superin- 
tendent for  general  adoption  in  all  schools,  and  its 
earnest  advocacy  by  other  members  of  the  super- 
intendents of  New  York  followed.  A  study  of  the 
methods  and  plans  in  use  in  other  cities,  where  similar 
conditions  have  suggested  similar  remedies,  must 
result  in  an  enthusiastic  belief  that  the  Group  System 
has  been  found  a  way  out  of  the  difficulties  and  evils 
so  well  recognized  and  deprecated  everywhere. 

The  Group  System  is  an  evolution  out  of  all  the 
plans  and  experiments  we  have  briefly  considered 
in  this  chapter.  It  bears  marked  resemblance  to 


THE   GROUP   SYSTEM   AN   EVOLUTION  n 

the  Elizabeth  and  the  Batavia  plans.     It  is  not  at  The  Group 
all  the  ungraded  or  district  school  plan,  but  it  does  evolution 

and  a  corn- 
apply  to  a  well-graded  school  all  that  was  good  in  promise. 

the  old  district  school.     It  plans  for  the  alternation 
of  study  and  instruction,  as  in  the  German  Blocking 
System.     It  allows  for  a  different  rate  of  progress, 
for  the  slow  and  the  bright  child,  as  in  the  experi- 
mental schemes  in  New  York.     It  is  not  a  reaction 
against  method,  but  it  is  an  emphasis  on  the  last  of 
the  five  steps  in  teaching  —  application.     It  includes 
the  old-fashioned  drill  we've  lost   sight  of,  trans- 
lated into   the  new  thought  of    self-reliant    study. 
Its  aim  is  not  to  cover  the  work  of  any  grade  neces- 
sarily more  quickly,  but  to  cover  it  so  that  every 
child  is  given  the  opportunity  to  progress  according 
to  his  individual  capabilities.     Its  aim  is  not  neces-  • 
sarily  to  advance  the   bright   pupils,  although  the 
brighter  child  should,  and  may,  through  its  use,  be 
allowed  to  advance  as  rapidly  as  he  can  cover  the 
ground  with  thoroughness.    Its  particular  advantage  \ 
in  our  schools  is  that  it  brings  the  backward  child/ 
up  to  grade.    Historically  considered,  then,  the  Group 
System  is  a  natural  development  of  conditions,  a  nat- 
ural sequence.     The  pendulum  swings  to  one  side, 
then  to  the  other,  but  finally  rests  between  the  two. 


CHAPTER  II 

LIMITATIONS    AND    ADVANTAGES 

VERY  earnestly  must  a  warning  be  urged  against 
being  too  precipitate  in  adopting  the  Group  System 
in  wholesale  fashion,  against  using  group  instruction 
solely  to  the  exclusion  of  all  whole-class  teaching 
with  a  consequent  loss  of  the  virtues  of  the  graded 
class  system,  against  limiting  the  teacher's  opportu- 
nities to  discover  by  experiment  the  solution  of  her 
difficulties.  We  are  prone  to  think  that  in  some 
one  new  method  of  teaching,  or  method  of  discipline, 
or  method  of  classification  and  promotion,  we  have 
found  a  panacea  for  all  the  educational  ills  we  have 
known.  Such  hasty,  ill-considered  use  of  the  Group 
System  will  produce  disorganization  and  evils  greater 
than  those  it  is  intended  to  remedy ;  therefore,  until 
after  work  with  the  Group  System  has  advanced 
beyond  the  experimental  and  introductory  stage,  it 
will  be  wise  to  proceed  slowly  and  cautiously.  A 
careful  consideration  of  the  limitations  of  the  Group 
System  will  prevent  the  possibility  of  such  disorgani- 


LIMITATIONS  AND   ADVANTAGES  13 

zation  and  consequent  discredit  to  the  method ;  fur- 
thermore, having  the  difficulties  clearly  set  before 
them,  principals  and  teachers  will  comprehend  how 
thoroughly  these  difficulties  are  offset  by  what  is 
gained  through  the  use  of  group  teaching. 

Among  some  half  dozen  difficulties  which  have 
been  advanced  as  arguments  against  the  use  of  the 
Group  System,  several  apply  only  to  city  schools. 
Two  are  general,  applying  equally  to  the  graded 
schools  of  the  cities  and  towns  and  the  ungraded 
schools  of  the  country  districts,  and  are  very  real 
problems  to  either.  The  first  of  these  has  to  do 
with  the  use  of  busy  work.  The  nature  and  style  Seat  work 
of  the  material  published  in  most  of  the  magazines 
for  teachers  testify  to  the  demand  there  must  be  for 
suggestion  along  this  line.  It  is  hard  to  find  employ- 
ment for  the  group  or  groups  not  receiving  oral  in- 
struction from  the  teacher.  Still  harder  is  it  to 
insure  that  such  employment  shall  be  profitable 
occupation  of  real  and  permanent  value  to  the  child, 
and  not  merely  "busy"  work.  In  the  city  is  added 
to  this  hardship  in  providing  busy  work  of  proper 
character,  the  fact  that  teachers  have  become  so 
accustomed  to  a  discipline  which  includes  attention 
from  every  child  in  the  class  at  every  moment  of  the 


14  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

day  that  they  are  confused  by  the  loss  of  the  old-time, 
machine-like  quiet.  They  find  it  a  great  strain  to 
teach  one  group  and  at  the  same  time  supervise  one 
or  two  others  at  busy  work. 

This  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  the  second  of 
these  two  general  difficulties  which  affect  a  safe 
introduction  of  the  Group  System,  and  that  is  the 
effect  on  discipline.  In  places  where  the  Group 
System  has  been  long  in  use,  including  such  schools 
in  the  large  cities  as  have  given  the  method  sufficient 
testing,  certain  beneficent  results  in  discipline  have 
been  generally  recognized  and  acknowledged.  Chief 
among  these  are  the  following :  - 

1.  The  busy  work  interests  the  "bad  boy,"  and 
can  be  used  as  a  means  of  reward  for  good  behavior. 

2.  Working   in   small   groups   holds   the   flighty 
attention  of  the  child  with  little  power  of  connected 
thinking. 

3.  Eye,  hand,  and  mind  are  kept  equally  busy. 

4.  The    Group  System  necessitates  independent 
work;    it  therefore  teaches  self-reliance,  with  self- 
government  as  a  natural  outcome. 

5.  Every  child  is  kept  usefully  employed,  so  that 
he  has  no  idle  moments  in  which  to  devise  mischief. 

6.  The  Group  System,  rightly  managed,  teaches 


LIMITATIONS   AND   ADVANTAGES  15 

care  for  other  people's  property  and  regard  for 
other  people's  rights,  since  the  books,  papers,  and 
busy  work  devices  and  material  the  child  uses  are 
not  his  and  must  be  preserved  intact  for  his  mates 
to  use  later. 

7.  When  any  disorder  does  arise,  it  is  much  easier 
to  detect  the  offender.  Such  disorder  as  can  occur 
in  the  class  of  a  teacher  who  has  any  power  of  con- 
trol will  seldom  or  never  arise  in  the  group  receiving 
oral  instruction  from  the  teacher.  This  fact  limits 
the  possibilities  at  once,  and  moderate  care  in  the 
supervision  and  testing  of  the  busy  work  of  the  other 
groups  will  at  once  betray  the  offenders,  since  they 
must  necessarily  have  slighted  or  neglected  the  tasks 
assigned. 

Yet  so  constantly  has  the  discipline  problem  been 
argued  as  a  limitation  of  the  value  of  the  Group 
System  that,  in  order  to  get  at  the  teacher's  point 
of  view  and  ascertain  the  real  source  of  her  diffi- 
culty, a  questionnaire  was  circulated  among  several 
hundred  teachers.  Two  conclusions  are  forced 
upon  the  readers  of  the  replies  to  that  questionnaire : 
first,  the  truth  of  the  old  story  that  a  good  discipli- 
narian never  finds  any  conditions  adverse  to  the 
securing  of  good  discipline;  second,  the  uselessness 


16  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

of  trying  to  decide  such  a  matter  on  the  basis  of 
answers  to  questions,  viewing  those  answers  as  votes. 
To  illustrate  the  contradiction  in  these  statements 
from  teachers  in  response  to  the  question,  "Is  the 
use  of  the  Group  System  an  aid  or  a  hindrance  in 
disciplining  your  class ?  Why?"  the  following  rep- 
resentative papers  are  quoted :  - 

One  teacher  writes:  "The  Group  System  solves 
the  question  of  discipline.  The  discipline  is  more 
natural,  because  busy  work  is  another  outlet  for 
natural  activity;  the  children  are  busy,  and  there- 
fore quiet.  Requiring  the  entire  class  to  concentrate 
on  the  same  thing  at  the  same  time  demands  a  more 
strenuous  effort  by  teachers  and  pupils.  Group 
work  removes  this  strain  of  discipline,  and  at  the 
same  time  gives  the  child  the  ability  to  concentrate, 
so  invaluable  to  him." 

The  next  answer  says:  "The  influence  of  the 
Group  System  on  discipline  is  positively  pernicious. 
Not  all  finish  their  work  at  the  same  time,  and  the 
quick  ones  sit  and  talk  while  waiting.  If  the  teacher 
stops  to  speak  to  such  children,  she  loses  the  atten- 
tion of  the  group  taught." 

The  third  in  order  reads:  "Group  teaching  has 
a  bad  effect  on  the  discipline  of  the  class:  first, 


LIMITATIONS   AND   ADVANTAGES  17 

because  it  works  against  unity;  second,  it  destroys 
class  spirit ;  third,  it  gives  an  opportunity  for  lying 
and  cheating,  inattention  and  idleness;  fourth,  it 
destroys  the  spirit  of  emulation,  and,  consequently, 
learning  by  imitation;  and  fifth,  the  impetus  that 
the  bright  child  might  give  to  the  backward  one  is 
lost." 

A  terrible  arraignment,  if  true.  But  the  fourth 
teacher  answers:  "According  to  my  judgment,  the 
Group  System  aids  the  discipline  of  a  class,  for  by 
it  every  child  is  taught  self-control,  so  that  it  is  im- 
possible for  him  to  create  any  disorder.  The  busy 
work  group,  kept  busily  engaged,  has  no  time  for 
disorder.  If  the  class  is  taught  as  a  whole,  these 
advantages  are  utterly  impossible;  especially  is  it 
impossible  to  stop  to  teach  a  slow  child,  for  then  the 
bright  one  loses  interest  and  becomes  disorderly." 

It  is  easy  to  see  just  where  the  question  rests  if 
left  to  a  vote  of  this  kind,  for  nearly  as  many  an- 
swers say  that  the  effect  upon  discipline  is  good  as 
the  contrary.  The  questionnaire  was  not  without 
its  value,  however,  since  the  answers  clearly  indicate 
wherein  lie  the  teacher's  troubles  in  discipline  after 
adopting  the  Group  System.  They  arise  mainly 
from  the  teacher's  own  errors,  inexperience,  or  want 
c 


i8  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

of  judgment,  and  most  of  these  errors  are  due  to  the 
newness  of  the  venture  and  the  lack  of  adequate 
information  and  practical  aid. 
Group  Teachers  make  the  mistake  of  trying  to  keep  the 

System  ' 

really  an       groups  "in  order."  not  realizing  that  absolute  quiet 

aid  to  disci- 
pline, and  the  old-fashioned  kind  of  attention  are  not  only 

unnecessary,  but  injurious,  and  not  understanding 
Jhat  the  children  employed  in  busy  work  should 
/be  working  as  individuals  and  should  be  receiving 
draining  in  self-reliance  and  self-helpfulness.  In 
addition,  the  further,  complete  discussion,  in  later 
chapters,  of  types  of  busy  work  and  practical  plans 
for  the  management  of  the  groups,  the  two  factors  in 
the  discipline  problem  as  complained  of  by  teachers, 
will  remove  any  lingering  doubt.  Considered  in 
this  new  light  and  with  respect  to  the  beneficent 
results  upon  discipline  already  noted  as  generally 
acknowledged,  all  statements  similar  to  the  two 
quoted  in  condemnation  of  the  Group  System  lose 
all  worth  or  semblance  of  truth.  Since  we  must 
agree  that  the  Group  System  teaches  self-reliance, 
truthfulness,  industry,  and  devotion  to  work,  and 
gives  confidence  and  encouragement  to  continue  at 
work,  and  since  these  are,  after  all,  the  final  aims  of 
school  discipline,  have  we  not  reached  in  the  Group 


LIMITATIONS   AND   ADVANTAGES  19 

System  the  surest  and  most  natural  means  of  accom- 
plishing our  aims? 

Among  the   difficulties    which   apply   more   spe-  The  city 

teacher's 

cifically  to  graded  schools  undertaking  the  use  of  the  training  as 

t  u  affecting  the 

Group  System  are  four  which  need  recognition  and  Group 

System. 

discussion.  The  first  of  these  lies  in  the  teacher's 
training.  In  the  cities,  the  teachers  are  almost  all 
city  born  and  bred,  and  have  no  background  of 
personal  experience  in  anything  except  whole-class 
teaching.  Scarcely  any  of  them  have  seen  any 
country  school  teaching,  and  consequently  they  have 
not  even  such  second-hand  experience.  Their  peda- 
gogical training  has  not  included  any  instruction  in 
methods  of  teaching  by  groups  or  plans  of  busy 
work.  Is  it  any  wonder  they  are  afraid  and  un- 
willing, and  is  it  fair  for  them  not  to  have  a  chance 
to  learn  how  to  use  it  ?  An  earnest,  willing  teacher, 
one  who  has  had  just  enough  years  of  experience  to 
realize  the  important  and  serious  nature  of  her  work, 
and  not  so  many  as  to  be  unable  to  bend  to  new  con- 
ditions, such  a  teacher  should  do  the  work  in  its 
experimental  stage,  especially  if  she  has  had  out-of- 
town  or  common  evening-school  experience.  Then 
let  the  others  benefit  by  what  such  a  teacher  can 
teach  them. 


20 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 


The  second  difficulty,  if  removed,  would  lessen  the 
force  of  all  other  objections ;  for  it  is  the  size  of  our 
classes  which  makes  the  amount  of  preparatory  work 
so  great,  and  it  is  the  size  of  our  classes  which  makes 
it  impossible  for  any  group  to  be  small  enough  to 
make  sure  that  real,  concentrated  effort  is  put  forth, 
or  to  enable  the  teacher  thoroughly  to  correct  her 
busy  work.  To  offset  this  obstacle,  various  schemes 
have  been  tried,  and  will  be  described  to  you  when 
we  reach  the  topic  of  ways  and  means  of  adapting 
the  Group  System  to  conditions. 

The  third  difficulty  arises  from  attempts  to  make 
the  work  fit  into  programmes  or  orders  of  exercises. 
Teachers  are  worried  about  the  time  schedule  - 
how  to  give  each  subject  its  due  amount  of  time,  and 
how  to  accomplish  in  each  subject  the  exact  amount 
required  by  the  course  of  study.  Of  course,  there 
must  be  a  programme,  —  every  good  teacher  recog- 
nizes the  need  of  one,  —  but  the  set,  red-lined  orders 
of  exercises  have  always  seemed  of  doubtful  value 
except  as  crutches  for  the  new  teacher  or  the  poor 
teacher.  What  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  pro- 
grammes will  be  illustrated  in  a  later  chapter,  and 
evidence  given  to  show  that  in  thinking  of  the  pro- 
gramme as  being  a  special  or  specific  limitation  of 


LIMITATIONS   AND    ADVANTAGES  21 

the  value  of  the  Group  System,  we  are  conjuring  up 
a  difficulty  where  none  exists. 

The  fourth  difficulty  is  in  the  demand  on  the  teach-  The  de- 
er's time,  and  here  we  are  facing  a  very  real  and  the  teach- 
very  serious  obstacle.  The  amount  of  labor  which  is 
put  upon  a  teacher  by  the  first  term's  work  in  the 
use  of  the  Group  System  is  enormous.  The  amount 
of  preparation  the  teacher  must  make  in  the  plan- 
ning of  work  to  meet  the  special  requirements  of 
different  groups  in  a  class,  in  the  preparation  of 
so-called  " busy- work"  or  occupation  for  the  group 
not  actually  receiving  instruction,  is  apparently  so 
much  greater  in  amount  over  and  above  what  whole- 
class  teaching  would  require  that  it  is  hard  to  see 
just  how  this  difficulty  can  be  surmounted.  The 
testimony  of  teachers  is  almost  unanimous  that 
it  takes  longer  to  plan  the  work,  the  length  of  time 
varying  from  one  to  ten  hours  weekly.  All  agree 
that  there  is  a  greater  tax  on  the  teacher's  memory 
and  judgment  in  planning  the  work,  and  this  with- 
out consideration  of  the  amount  of  time  needed  for 
the  correction  of  busy  work,  which  must,  of  course, 
always  receive  correction,  or  it  is  absolutely  valueless. 
Yet  with  proper  cooperation  of  teachers,  one  with 
another,  and  the  saving  of  plans  of  work  and  of 


22  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 

busy-work  devices  from  term  to  term,  the  burden  will 
steadily  become  lighter,  although  this  question  of 
demand  on  the  teacher's  time  made  by  the  use  of  the 
Group  System  is  great,  and  will  help  to  disgruntle, 
indeed,  the  teacher  who  keeps  more  accurate  count 
of  hours  of  labor  outside  of  school  than  of  good 
accomplished  for  her  pupils. 

In  closing  this  effort  to  give  frank  recognition  and 
discussion  to  all  the  difficulties  and  limitations  ad- 
vanced against  the  adoption  of  the  Group  System, 
attention  is  invited  to  the  following  quotations  from 
Bagley's  "Classroom  Management":  "Any  system 
of  class  and  individual  instruction"  (which  is,  of 
course,  what  we  mean  by  the  Group  System)  "  must 
be  applied  with  a  full  recognition  of  its  pitfalls.  It 
requires  teachers  of  skill  and  scholarship  for  its 
effective  application,  and  it  must  not  be  looked  upon 
as  a  royal  road  to  learning.  One  must  not  think  of 
eliminating  in  any  degree  the  struggle  and  effort 
that  are  always  essential  to  growth,  whether  of  a 
child  in  school  or  a  teacher  in  her  profession." 

Somewhat  full  consideration  has  been  given  to  the 
difficulties  confronting  the  teacher  who  undertakes 
to  teach  her  class  in  groups,  as  it  was  felt  that  only 
by  a  preliminary  removal  of  any  preconceived  idea 


LIMITATIONS  AND   ADVANTAGES  23 

that  the  Group  System  has  many  hardships  and 
limitations  could  just  and  thorough  attention  be 
secured  to  the  ways  and  means  of  putting  the  method 
into  practical  use.  Lengthy  discussion  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  Group  System  is  unnecessary  at  this 
point,  since  later  development  of  the  subject  em- 
phasizes them,  one  by  one. 

Briefly  summed  up,  the  advantages  of  the  Group 
System  are  as  follows :  - 

1.  It  makes  possible  true  individual  teaching. 

2.  It  fixes  individual  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
the  child,  with  resultant  self-reliance  and  ability  to 
study  independently.     He  knows  a  thing  because  he 
LEARNED  it. 

3.  It  provides  work  in  advance  for  the  bright  boy 
and  brings  the  slow  one  up  to  grade. 

4.  It  includes  attention    to    proper   methods   of 
teaching,  and  at  the  same  time  the  absolutely  indis- 
pensable advantage  of  study  on  the  part  of  the  child. 

5.  It  insures  drill,  the  weak  point  in  our  modern 
methods. 

6.  Its  work  is  more  thorough  because  it  makes 
possible  greater  concentration  on  the  part  of  both 
teacher  and  child. 


CHAPTER    III 

SCHEMES    OF    GROUPING 

Three  THREE  distinct  and  well-systematized  schemes  of 

schemes  of  ...  . 

grouping,  division  into  groups  are  fairly  well  recognized,  al- 
though methods  of  division  into  groups  and  of  mak- 
ing promotions  and  the  basis  of  classification  may 
vary  greatly.  Of  these  three  plans  of  grouping, 
which  we  shall  denominate  the  Constant  Group 
scheme,  the  Shifting  Group  scheme,  and  the  Grade 
Group  scheme,  the  second  is  the  one  best  adapted  for 
use  in  graded  schools,  and  the  third  is  a  combination 
of  the  first  two  intended  for  use  in  very  large  city 
schools,  while  the  first  precedes  the  other  two  in  priority 
of  use  and  historic  importance.  To  the  plan  of  Con- 
stant Groups,  then,  consideration  must  first  be  given. 

The  Con-         In  the  scheme  of  Constant  Groups,  the  method 

slant  Group  .    . 

plan.  of  division   into  groups   is,   as   the   name   implies, 

formal,  the  distinction  between  the  groups  being 
kept  up  for  fixed  periods.  Promotion,  whether 
from  group  to  group  within  a  room  or  from  room  to 
room,  comes  at  set  intervals.  The  Constant  Group 

24 


SCHEMES   OF   GROUPING  25 

scheme  allows  for  two  or  three  groups  in  a  room,  known 
as  the  "fast"  group  and  the  "slow"  group,  when 
there  are  two,  or  as  "fast,"  "normal,"  and  "slow" 
groups  when  there  are  three ;  but,  in  any  case,  one 
group  is  always  in  advance  of  the  others,  and  finishes 
the  grade  work  sooner  than  the  others.  The  Con- 
stant Group  scheme  demands  that  grouping  be 
maintained  in  all  the  subjects  of  the  course  of  study, 
and  the  basis  of  classification  is  the  child's  power  to 
advance. 

By  modifications  of  the  formality  of  these  charac-  The  shift- 
ing Group 
teristics  of  the  Constant  Group  scheme  has  been  de-  plan. 

veloped  the  second  method  of  grouping,  known  as  the 
Shifting  Group  scheme.  The  distinction  between 
the  groups  is  kept  up  for  indefinite,  unfixed  periods, 
and  the  division  is  informal  and  varying,  permitting 
children  to  pass  from  group  to  group,  advancing  or 
halting,  as  their  own  proficiency  determines.  While 
there  may  be  promotion  from  room  to  room  of  the 
"fast"  children  in  a  class,  it  does  not  necessarily 
follow  that  there  must  be.  The  basis  of  classi- 
fication is  again  the  child's  power  to  advance,  but 
/it  is  judged  step  by  step,  decided,  not  by  his  natural 
•endowment  and  mentality,  but  by  his  power  to 
grasp  each  new  point  and  by  the  security  and  thor- 


26  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 

oughness  with  which  he  masters  each  task  prepared 
for  him.  1  It  necessarily  follows,  then,  that  there  is  no 
demand  for  grouping  in  all  the  subjects  of  the  course 
of  study.  Instead,  the  Shifting  Group  scheme  puts 
no  compulsion  on  the  teacher  as  to  the  number  of 
subjects  in  which  she  uses  the  grouping  system  or 
as  to  the  number  of  groups  in  each  or  any  of  the 
subjects  of  study. 

The  third  scheme  of  grouping,  referred  to  before 
as  the  Grade  Group  scheme,  has  been  tried  in  several 
very  large  city  schools  in  New  York,  and,  I  think, 
in  Rochester.  It  is  in  many  ways  a  combination  of 
ideas  and  of  ways  and  means  suggested  in  the  two 
schemes  already  described.  For  its  use,  large  num- 
bers of  children  in  the  same  grade  are  necessary. 
All  the  children  in  a  particular  grade  are  regarded 
as  one  whole  class,  and  are  grouped  as  "fast," 
"normal,"  and  "slow."  Three  classes  in  a  grade 
are  then  formed,  each  class  consisting  of  a  constant 
group  of  the  grade  as  a  whole.  The  teacher  of  each 
of  these  classes  or  constant  groups  gives  her  instruc- 
tion with  the  use  of  the  Shifting  Group  plan  within  the 
class,  not  necessarily  in  all  subjects,  but  certainly  in 
English  and  Arithmetic.  To  illustrate  the  Grade 
Group  scheme: — 


SCHEMES   OF   GROUPING  27 

Grade  4  B  (Fourth  Year,  Second  Half)  has 
126  children :  45  are  classified  as  "  fast "  or  "  bright "  ; 
51  as  "normal";  30  as  "slow."  Three  classes  are 
formed  in  that  grade ;  these  are  known  as  4  B  i,  con- 
sisting of  the  45  "fast"  children;  462,  consisting 
of  51  "normal"  children;  463,  consisting  of  the  30 
"slow"  children.  Class  4  B  i  is  a  constant  group 
which  is  allowed  to  advance  rapidly  and  to  cover 
the  ground  in  less  than  one  term,  if  possible.  Class 
4  B  2  is  a  constant  group  which,  by  means  of  the  plan 
of  shifting  groups  in  the  essential  subjects,  infor- 
mally used  within  the  class,  covers  the  grade  work 
fully  and  thoroughly  in  one  term.  Class  4  B  3  is  a 
constant  group,  taught  also  by  the  informal  use  of 
the  Shifting  Group  plan;  and,  covering  only  the 
minimum  requirements  of  the  course  of  study,  is 
promoted  to  the  next  grade  at  the  same  time  as 
462. 

In  favor  of  the  Constant  Group  scheme  many 
arguments  have  been  advanced  which,  however, 
resolve  themselves  into  three. 

The  first  of  these  three  is  that  the  bright  child  is  in  favor 
enabled  to  pass  more  rapidly  from  grade  to  grade,  constant 
and  is  not  compelled  to  wait  for  the  majority.     Since  scheme. 
he  is  therefore  likely  to  retain  his  interest  in  study, 


28  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

he  will  remain  in  school  until  graduation,  the  result 
being  a  lessening  of  the  decrease  in  attendance  as  the 
upper  grades  are  reached,  and  an  improvement  in 
the  standard  of  scholarship.  v  The  second  argu- 
ment has  also  to  do  with  the  aid  of  the  bright  child, 
for  it  claims  that  no  child  is  held  back  because  of  his 
deficiency  in  one  subject,  and  that  this  is  especially 
helpful  to  children  in  the  "fast"  group.  Being 
naturally  bright,  and  receiving  individual  instruction 
from  the  teacher,  as  is  possible  in  a  small  group,  the 
child  is  allowed  to  progress  as  rapidly  as  he  may  in 
subjects  in  which  he  is  proficient,  and  is  prevented 
from  falling  behind  in  the  grades  because  of  inap- 
titude for  some  one  subject.  >The  third  argument 
urged  in  favor  of  the  Constant  Group  scheme  is  that 
it  is  good  school  economy.  Since  the  bright  child 
is  advanced  from  grade  to  grade  as  fast  as  he  is  able 
to  go,  room  is  made  for  new  admissions  in  the  grades 
below  without  a  demand  for  increase  in  the  number 
of  rooms  or  the  number  of  teachers. 

Against  the  Placing  so  much  emphasis  on  the  advance  of  the 
bright  child,  the  Constant  Group  scheme  is  accom- 
panied by  two  dangers.  The  first  is  the  temptation 
to  push  the  bright  child  ahead  so  fast  that  one  of 
two  things  results,  —  either  he  is  pushed  ahead  with 


SCHEMES   OF   GROUPING  29 

consequent  neglect  of  his  health  and  resultant  nerv- 
ousness, or  his  quickness  in  grasping  a  subject 
makes  it  possible  for  him  to  go  ahead  without  any 
real,  lasting  grasp  of  subject-matter,  such  as  will 
cause  it  to  remain  in  his  mind  for  all  time.  I  think 
that  we  cannot  neglect  serious  consideration  of  this 
point,  since  I  firmly  believe  that  superficiality  in 
knowledge  and  lack  of  power  to  study  are  the  great 
causes  for  the  discredit  put  upon  our  public  school 
children  when  they  go  out  to  work,  or  enter  the  high 
schools  and  colleges.  The  second  danger  is  the  ^ 
temptation  to  the  teacher  to  neglect  the  children  of 
the  "  slow"  group,  so  that  their  case  is  worse  than  ever, 
in  her  concentration  of  mind  on  the  advancement 
of  the  "fast"  group.  Two  other  adverse  criticisms 
may  be  brought  forward  against  the  Constant  Group 
scheme.  One,  that  since  the  groups  are  fixed,  it 
removes  none  of  the  formality  and  loss  of  individual 
touch,  the  injurious  influences  resulting  from  the 
graded  school  system.  Two,  that  it  makes  the 
standard  of  advance  one  purely  of  knowledge,  re- 
sulting in  the  placing  of  undue  importance  on  me- 
moriter  acquirement  of  subject-matter  and  of  undue 
emphasis  on  examinations  and  tests. 

None  of  these  criticisms  holds  good  against  the 


30  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

Differences    Shifting    Group   scheme.     The    difference   between 

between 

two  plans     the  two  schemes  lies  really  in  a  difference  in  aim. 

of  grouping. 

In  the  plan  just  discussed,  the  aim  is  to  advance  the 
bright  child,  in  the  Shifting  Group  plan,  there  is 
no  danger  of  neglect  for  any  child,  slow  or  bright. 
The  fast  group  is  made  to  do  thorough  and  more 
intensive  study  on  the  same  subject  on  which  the 
in  favor  slow  group  is  receiving  additional  oral  instruction 

of  Shifting 

Group  plan,  f rom  the  teacher.  Drill  comes  in  as  a  matter  of  course, 
and  there  can  be  no  superficiality.  Furthermore,  the 
child  is  forming  habits  of  study  which  are  going 
to  be  of  invaluable  assistance  to  him  when  he  reaches 
the  upper  grades,  or  when  he  desires  to  study  up 
some  subject  for  himself  after  he  leaves  school.  The 
slow  group  is  not  neglected,  for  it  really  receives  more 
instruction  than  the  fast  group  does.  As  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  the  plan  of  work,  the  children 
in  the  slow  group  are  brought  up  to  grade  and  are 
enabled  to  pass  an  examination  and  go  on  to  the 
next  grade  with  the  children  in  the  fast  group,  al- 
though, of  course,  they  may  not  have  covered  as 
much  ground  in  each  particular  subject  as  the  chil- 
dren in  the  fast  group. 

The  Shifting  Group  plan  is  more  properly  in  line 
with  the  principle  spoken  of  previously;   that  is,  if 


SCHEMES   OF   GROUPING  31 

popular  education  is  designed  to  fit  people  for  the  ' 
proper  administration  of  our  form  of  government, 
then  any  and  every  individual  must  be  included. 
It  cannot  be  the  education  of  the  few,  or  the  educa- 
tion of  the  majority,  but  the  education  of  all.  Each 
individual  child  must  receive  individual  instruction, 
and  obtain  the  personal  sympathy  and  aid  of  the 
teacher  in  his  individual  needs.  The  Shifting 
Group  plan  is  sufficiently  elastic  to  allow  of  this 
individual  attention,  since  it  requires  grouping  in 
certain  subjects  only  and  makes  feasible  the  teach- 
ing of  the  class  as  a  whole  in  certain  other  subjects. 
Also,  taken  in  this  manner,  it  retains  the  benefit  to 
be  obtained  from  whole-class  teaching.  If  the  sub- 
jects in  which  grouping  is  done  are — as  in  most 
places  where  this  plan  is  followed  —  reading,  writ- 
ing, and  arithmetic,  then  have  we  solved  the  prob- 
lem of  the  drill  in  the  three  R's  in  which  our  schools 
are  said  to-day  to  be  deficient. 

Against  the  Shifting  Group  plan,  however,  it  is  Against  the 

.  .      Shifting 

true  that  one  urgent  objection  can  be  made.     It  is  Group  piaa 
clumsy  and  difficult  to  plan,  since  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible for  a  teacher  to  make  or  use  a  set  programme, 
and  since  it  requires  her  to  change  her  plan  fre- 
quently, and,  therefore,  to  do  a  great  amount  of 


32  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 

planning  and  preparation.  This  is  really  the  only 
valid  argument  against  the  Shifting  Group  scheme, 
the  only  point  in  which  the  plan  of  Constant  Groups 
apparently  excels.  The  claim  of  superior  school 
economy  is  not  justified,  if  one  looks  below  the  sur- 
face of  things,  for  although  there  may  be  no  im- 
mediate saving  of  teachers,  there  is  room  made  for 
new  admissions  below.  It  is  better  made,  too,  since 
it  is  not  done  by.  the  advancement  of  a  few  brighter 
children,  but  by  the  sure  advancement  of  all  or  nearly 
all ;  in  other  words,  by  the  saving  of  room  formerly 
needed  for  held-over  children. 

Where  numbers  in  each  grade  in  a  school  are  large 
enough  to  make  it  possible,  the  Grade  Group  plan, 
really  combining  the  other  two  schemes,  is  particu- 
larly advantageous.  By  applying  to  the  grade  as 
a  whole  the  plan  of  Constant  Groups  and  to  each 
class  the  plan  of  Shifting  Groups,  we  secure  all  the 
benefits  of  each,  and  guard  against  all  the  deficiencies 
experiment  has  found  in  each.  But  most  schools 
must  confine  themselves  to  one  of  the  first  two,  the 
conclusion  in  favor  of  either  depending  entirely  on 
which  aim  is  regarded  as  the  ideal,  —  whether  it 
seems  more  desirable  for  the  bright  child  to  advance 
rapidly,  or  whether  it  is  better  to  bring  the  slow  child 


SCHEMES   OF   GROUPING  33 

up  to  grade,  and  thus  secure  definite  instruction  for 
all  classes  of  children.  In  schools  and  classes  for 
special  problems,  the  teacher  will  inevitably  find 
herself  forced  to  use  the  plan  of  Constant  Groups, 
since  her  conditions  resemble  the  ungraded  school, 
and  there  are  few,  if  any,  subjects  which  she  can 
teach  to  the  class  as  a  whole.  In  regular  classes  of 
the  graded  schools,  the  plan  of  the  Shifting  Groups 
is  the  ideal  one. 


\ 


CHAPTER  IV 

CLASSIFICATION    INTO    GROUPS 

Basis  of  As  stated  in  the  last  chapter,  the  basis  of  classi- 

classifica- 

tion.  fication  in  both  the  Constant  Group  and  the  Shifting 

Group  schemes  is  the  child's  power  to  advance,  but 
there  is  a  difference  in  the  judgment  of  his  power 
in  the  Con-  to  advance.  In  the  Constant  Group  scheme,  it  is 
Group.  almost  inevitably  decided  by  the  child's  natural  en- 
dowment of  mentality.  Hence  there  is  little  diffi- 
culty experienced  by  the  teacher  in  classifying  her 
children  into  groups,  once  she  knows  her  children 
and  has  tested  their  acquirements.  That  this  is 
true  is  clear  at  once  after  a  moment's  recall  of  what 
is  included  in  the  working  out  of  the  Constant  Group 
scheme :  that  definite,  formal  divisions  shall  be  made 
within  a  class;  that  the  divisions  shall  be  kept  up 
for  definitely  fixed  periods;  that  grouping  shall  be 
maintained  in  most  or  all  of  the  subjects  of  study, 
although,  of  course,  the  groups  need  not  be  con- 
stituted the  same  in  all  the  subjects. 

34 


CLASSIFICATION   INTO    GROUPS  35 

j 

In  the  Shifting  Group  scheme,  the  judgment  of  the  in  the 

child's  power  to  advance  is  decided  by  the  thorough-  Group, 
ness  with  which  he  grasps  each  new  step,  each  new 
detail  of  each  subject,  as  it  is  taught.  Hence  there 
is  considerable  difficulty  involved  for  the  teacher 
in  classifying  her  children  into  groups,  since  these 
groups  are  necessarily  a  variable  quantity;  and  the 
method  of  classification  into  groups  under  the  Shift- 
ing Group  scheme  must  have  fuller  explanation  and 
illustration. 

When  the  instruction  in  each  new  step  of  a  lesson  HOW  to 

.          classify  into 

is  completed  with  the  class  as  a  whole,  grouping  shifting 
begins,  decided  by  a  test  given  at  the  close  of  the 
period  of  teaching.     In  other  words,  when  the  time  v 
has  arrived  for  the  teaching  of  a  new  point,  the  teacher 
drops  all  group  divisions  and  teaches  it  to  the  class 
as  a  whole.     At  the  close  of  the  period  or  periods 
devoted  to  the  presentation  of  this  new  point,  a  test, 
oral  or  written,  as  circumstances  decide,  enables  the 
teacher  to  divide  her  class  into  two  groups ;  the  first  ' 
is  composed  of  children  who  have  thoroughly  grasped 
the  new  point,  and  the  second,  of  children  who  need 
fuller  instruction. 

Group  A,  then,  consists  of  children  who  have  com- 
prehended the  entire  lesson  as  taught ;  they  need  no 


36  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

further  instruction,  but  they  do  need  drill,  which  they 
receive  through  seat- work  study  in  the  next  period. 
Group  B  consists  of  children  who  have  failed  to 
comprehend  the  entire  lesson  as  taught  in  the  first 
period.  They  do  need  further  instruction  and  help 
from  the  teacher,  and  to  them  the  teacher  must  give 
her  personal  attention  in  the  next  period.  At  the 
end  of  this  second  period,  the  teacher  gives  to  Group 
B  a  test  similar  to  the  one  used  to  test  the  whole 
class  at  the  end  of  the  first  period.  Consideration 
of  this  test  reveals  the  necessity  for  a  further  sub- 
division of  the  class  into  groups,  since  even  after  a 
second  lesson,  there  will  still  remain  children  who 
have  not  made  satisfactory  progress.  The  teacher 
makes  note  of  this  remnant  as  constituting  a  third 
group,  to  be  known  as  Group  C.  When  the  third 
period  for  the  same  lesson  arrives,  the  teacher  divides 
her  class  into  three  groups,  A,  B,  and  C.  Group  B 
is  now  in  need  of  drill,  and  must  spend  the  period 
in  doing  the  same  or  similar  seat-work  study  as- 
signed to  Group  A  for  the  second  period.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  third  period,  the  teacher's  personal 
attention  is  given  to  the  children  of  Group  A,  who 
receive  a  short  drill  in  a  rapid  fire  of  questions  cover- 
ing the  point  taught  and  the  seat  work  of  the  pre- 


CLASSIFICATION   INTO   GROUPS  37 

vious  day.  This  should  occupy  less  than  half  the 
period,  and  during  the  rest  of  the  time  allowed, 
Group  A  does  seat  work  in  the  same,  or  possibly  some 
other,  lesson.  The  children  of  Group  A  must  have 
this  short  period  of  teaching  time  in  order  to  insure 
that  their  needs  are  not  neglected  and  that  dis- 
covery is  made  of  the  children  whose  apparent  grasp 
of  the  subject-matter  during  the  first  period  lacked 
real  thoroughness.  They  must  feel  that  the  teacher's 
interest  and  attention  are  theirs  equally  with  their 
classmates,  and  that  their  work  receives  as  careful 
correction.  While  the  teacher  is  personally  at 
work  with  Group  A,  Group  C  may  listen,  for 
the  sake  of  the  benefit  which  they  may  derive 
from  their  classmates'  answers,  or  they  may  be 
occupied  in  manual  work  or  in  seat  work  in  re- 
lation to  some  other  lesson.  The  major  part  of  this 
third  period  the  teacher  uses  in  giving  final,  de- 
tailed, and  individual  teaching  to  Group  C. 

Even  if  a  test  of  Group  C  at  the  end  of  the  third 
period  discovers  that  there  are  a  few  very  slow  chil- 
dren still  unable  to  comprehend  the  point  taught, 
further  subdivision  is  unwise.  It  is  better  to  trust 
to  their  receiving  aid  from  their  neighbors  or  from 
pupil  teachers  during  later  periods.  In  the  later 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 


Illustration 
of  classify- 
ing into 
Shifting 
Groups. 


periods,  Group  A  will  do  more  seat  work  in  drill 
on  the  point  taught,  or  manual  work,  or  seat 
work  in  drill  on  other  lessons  in  which  individual 
members  of  Group  A  may  be  weak.  In  one  of  these 
later  periods,  Group  B  will  be  treated  as  was  Group  A 
in  the  third  period;  in  the  others,  Group  B  will 
proceed  in  similar  manner  to  that  just  outlined  for 
Group  A.  In  all  later  periods,  Group  C  will  be  oc- 
cupied with  the  same  or  similar  seat-work  study  as 
was  assigned  to  Group  A  in  the  second  period  and 
to  Group  B  in  the  third  period.  Throughout  these 
later  periods,  the  teacher  will  give  as  much  individ- 
ual attention  as  possible  to  the  slow,  weak  students. 
In  the  last  period,  before  instruction  in  a  new  point 
is  begun,  the  teacher  will  take  the  class  once  more 
as  a  whole,  and  by  a  short,  sharp  drill  and  question- 
ing, decide  whether  it  is  safe  to  advance  to  the  next 
step  outlined  in  her  grade  work. 

Application  to  a  specific  lesson  of  the  foregoing 
explanation  of  the  method  of  classification  into  groups 
under  the  Shifting  Group  scheme  will  make  per- 
fectly clear  how  the  method  will  work  out  in  actual 
practice.  To  illustrate,  then,  by  a  lesson  or  series 
of  lessons  in  arithmetic  in  Grade  i  A,  First  Year, 
First  Half:  — 


CLASSIFICATION   INTO    GROUPS  39 

The  new  point  to  be  taught  to  the  class  is  that  three 
plus  two  equal  five.  The  teacher  presents  it,  with 
careful  attention  to  all  that  she  has  learned  of  methods 
of  teaching,  to  the  class  as  a  whole.  By  tests,  by 
questioning  during  the  lesson  or  at  its  close,  by  in- 
cidents which  may  occur  as  the  lesson  is  presented, 
-  some  way,  somehow,  the  teacher  discovers  that 
a  certain  percentage  of  her  class  has  completely 
grasped  the  point  of  the  lesson,  and  that  the  rest 
need  fuller  explanation  and  drilling.  She  divides 
her  class  accordingly  into  Groups  A  and  B. 

Next  day,  when  her  program  calls  for  an  arithme- 
tic exercise,  Group  A,  for  the  entire  period,  does  seat  ' 
work  in  application  of  the  point  taught,  and  fixes 
permanently  in  mind  by  self-reliant  study  that  three 
plus  two  are  five.  Such  seat  work  may  consist  of  the 
following  exercises,  each  child  receiving  a  few  pre- 
liminary directions  from  the  teacher  and  an  envelope 
containing  all  the  material  he  needs  for  all  the  exer- 
cises :  — 

Ex.  i.  Strings  and  beads  of  several  colors,  ten 
of  each  color.  On  one  string  he  arranges  white 
beads,  thus:  — 

three  beads,  space,  two  beads,  larger  space,  five  beads, 
ooo     oo  ooooo 


TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 


If  he  has  beads  of  five  colors,  he  must  arrange  five 
strings  in  this  manner. 

Ex.  2.  Splints  of  several  colors,  ten  of  each  color, 
arranged  on  his  desk  in  similar  manner. 


in     ii 


inii 


Ex.  3.  Cut-up  slips  on  which  the  teacher  has 
written  3,  2,  5  and  the  plus  and  equality  signs. 
Child  uses  the  slips  and  builds  up  on  his  desk  several 
rows  of 


Ex.  4.   Cut-up  slips  to  be  used  as  in  last   exer- 
cise, or  this  exercise  may  possibly  precede. 


3 

+  2 

=  5 

Ex.  5.   Splints  and  cut-up   slips;    splints    to  be 
arranged  to  make  the  combination,  and  the  cut-up 
slips  to  be  placed  as  indicating  the  answer. 
3  splints,  space,  2  splints,  space,  5  splints,  space, 
cut-up  slips  reading  "5  sticks." 

Ill    II    Hill    5  sticks 


CLASSIFICATION   INTO    GROUPS  41 

Ex.  6.  Beads,  buttons,  etc.,  as  in  Ex.  5. 

An  additional  difficulty  is  found  in  that  the  child 
must  see  that  his  answer  slip  is  placed  correctly, 
5  beads  next  to  beads,  etc. 

Ex.  7.   Child  to  write  the  combination  3  +  2  =  5. 

While  Group  A  is  so  occupied,  Group  B  is  in- 
structed again  by  the  teacher,  with  just  as  careful 
attention  to  the  methods  of  presenting  the  subject- 
matter  ;  in  fact,  she  will  probably  seek  a  new  means 
of  approach  and  be  more  detailed  in  her  teaching 
than  on  the  previous  day.  At  the  end  of  this  second 
lesson,  a  certain  proportion  of  this  group  gives 
satisfactory  evidence  of  knowing,  without  guessing 
or  prompting,  that  three  plus  two  are  five,  although 
there  may  be  still  an  appreciably  large  number  of 
children  who  have  failed  to  do  so  and  must  have 
patient,  individual  drilling. 

On  the  third  day,  when  her  period  for  arithmetic 
comes,  the  teacher  finds,  therefore,  that  she  has  three 
groups  to  work  with.  Group  B  is  set  busy  at  once 
on  the  same  exercises  already  described  as  being 
required  of  Group  A  on  the  second  day,  and  is  left 
to  work  by  itself  throughout  the  period.  The 
teacher's  time  and  attention  are  given  to  Groups  A 
and  C.  If  it  is  a  forty-minute  period,  she  uses  the 


42  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

first  fifteen  minutes  to  drill  and  test  Group  A  in  a 
rapid  fire  of  questions  which  keeps  every  child  alert. 
Meanwhile,  Group  C  listens  to  the  work  of  Group  A, 
or  is  occupied  in  manual  work  or  seat-work  drill 
or  some  other  lesson.  At  the  end  of  the  first  fifteen 
minutes,  Group  A  is  given  seat  work  in  further 
application,  to  fix  in  the  child's  memory  by  frequent 
repetition  that  three  plus  two  are  five.  The  exer- 
cises may  be  similar  to  those  used  during  the  second 
period,  or  the  same  worked  out  with  different 
materials,  varied  in  some  way  so  as  to  continue  the 
interest.  Group  C's  turn  for  instruction  comes 
[  when  Group  A  begins  its  seat  work.  In  this  third 
teaching  of  the  same  point  to  these  children,  the 
teacher  tries  to  reach  individual  difficulties,  and 
corrects  typical  errors  and  misapprehensions  which 
are  keeping  the  children  of  Group  C  behind  their 
classmates  of  Groups  A  and  B. 

This  division  of  the  class  into  three  groups  is 
maintained  throughout  all  succeeding  periods  until 
the  teacher  feels  that  the  class  is  ready  to  advance 
to  a  new  point.  During  the  fourth  period,  the 
teacher  proceeds  with  Group  B  in  the  manner  out- 
lined for  Group  A  in  the  third  period,  and  assigns  to 
Group  C  the  seat-work  exercises  already  used  by 


CLASSIFICATION  INTO   GROUPS  43 

Group  A  in  the  second  period  and  by  Group  B  in 
the  third  period.  The  latter  and  major  part  of 
this  fourth  period,  the  teacher  uses  to  supervise  and 
correct  the  seat-work  exercises  and  give  individual 
aid  to  the  children  of  Group  C.  Group  A  could 
again  be  assigned  seat  work  for  the  entire  period. 
There  would  be,  however,  this  difference.  The 
seat  work  for  Group  A  during  this  fourth  period 
need  not  necessarily  be  in  application  of  the  same 
point.  It  may  be  review ;  it  may  be  work  of  a  more 
intensive  character,  thought  problems,  etc. ;  it  may 
be  even  in  preparation  for  the  study  of  a  new  point 
soon  to  be  taught  to  the  class  as  a  whole ;  it  may  be 
work  in  an  entirely  different  subject,  planned  so 
as  to  provide  drill  for  these  children  of  Group  A 
along  lines  in  which  they  may  not  be  so  proficient. 
In  many  schools  has  been  tried  successfully  the  use 
of  the  brightest  and  best  of  the  children  of  Group  A 
as  pupil  teachers  of  children  in  other  groups.  This 
may  be  their  seat  work  for  the  fourth  period.  During 
later  periods  which  may  follow  before  the  teacher 
deems  it  wise  to  advance,  the  division  of  the  period 
into  teaching  time  and  seat-work  time,  for  each  or 
any  of  the  three  groups,  will  depend  upon  conditions, 
and  will  vary  from  class  to  class,  term  to  term. 


44  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

Once  ready  to  advance,  the  class  becomes  a  whole 
again. 

One  can  readily  see  that  this  method  of  classifica- 
tion into  groups  used  in  the  Shifting  Group  scheme 
must  result  in  a  frequent  changing  and  shifting  of 
the  children  from  group  to  group,  whence  the  name 
given  to  it.     The  teacher  is  thereby  able  to  insure 
'  from  every  child  satisfactory  progress  in  his  acquire- 
ment of  each  new  step  in  a  subject  of  study,  and  yet 
to  present  each  new  step  to  the  class  as  a  whole. 
/Just  as  surely,  each  child's  work  will  alternate  be- 
I  tween  periods  of  study  and  periods  of  instruction, 
\  and  the  periods  of  instruction  will  alternate  between 
(  class    instruction    and    individual    instruction.     In 
the  use  of  the  Group  System,  planned  as  here  ex- 
plained for  the  Shifting  Group  scheme,  the  teacher 
retains  all  the  advantages  of  the  graded  school  and 
whole-class  teaching,  secures  the  advantages  of  the 
Batavia  system  of  individual  instruction,  and  obtains 
an  opportunity  to  train  children  in  self-reliant  study. 
Subjects  in        Before  leaving  this  question  of  classification  into 

which  to  .     .  ir    i  •  i  i  •       i 

group.  groups,  it  is  needful  to  give  some  thought  to  its  bear- 
ing upon  the  different  subjects  of  the  Course  of  Study. 
Immediately,  there  must  be  recognized  another 
great  gain  resulting  from  the  Group  System;  for 


CLASSIFICATION   INTO    GROUPS  45 

its  use,  with  the  Shifting  Group  scheme,  makes 
not  only  possible,  but  actually  unavoidable,  very 
careful  drill  in  the  three  R's,  since  in  most  schools, 
the  subjects  in  which  grouping  is  done  are  arith- 
metic and  the  English  branches,  particularly  among 
the  latter  grammar  and  reading.  In  some  schools, 
grouping  is  done  in  other  subjects,  even  under  the 
Shifting  Group  scheme,  but  the  majority  of  principals 
and  teachers  who  answered  a  questionnaire  in  regard 
to  this  point,  agreed  that  in  other  subjects,  certainly 
in  all  the  special  branches,  work  can  be  done  just 
as  well  as  desired  by  the  system  of  the  whole-class 
instruction  as  by  the  Group  System.  All  the  other 
subjects,  especially  geography  and  history  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  course  and  the  manual  work  in  all 
grades,  do,  however,  form  an  important  part  of 
the  teacher's  plan  for  group  teaching  as  providing 
supplementary  reading  and  other  excellent  seat  work. 

Moreover,  it  is  true  that,  as  a  school  term  ad-  The  group- 

,  ,  .         ,  ing  in  read- 

vances,  the  groups  become  more  constant  in  charac-  ing  apt  to 

become 

ter  and  personnel  in  some  subjects  than  in  others,  constant. 
This  is  very  apt  to  be  so  in  reading;    for  the  same 
child  is  always  a  good  reader  or  a  poor  reader,  - 
that  is,  he  will  learn  quickly  and  read  well  a  lesson 
given,  or  he  will  recognize  words  slowly  and  read 


46  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

haltingly.  The  greatest  variation  in  the  constitution 
of  a  group  is  apt  to  occur  in  arithmetic  or  grammar. 
The  same  child  may  in  one  week  be  in  Group  A 
in  arithmetic,  and  in  the  next  week  find  great  diffi- 
culty in  getting  out  of  Group  C.  In  this  characteris- 
tic of  the  Shifting  Group  scheme  lies,  however,  as 
was  said  before,  one  of  the  greatest  arguments  to 
be  advanced  in  favor  of  the  Group  System,  since 
thereby  are  insured  discovery  and  proper  treatment 
of  each  child's  individual  weaknesses,  and  permis- 
sion and  opportunity  to  the  bright  child  to  obtain 
broader  and  deeper  knowledge  of  his  subject-matter. 
In  discussing  later  problems  of  the  Group  System, 
consideration  will  be  given  only  to  the  Shifting 
Group  plan,  since  it  is  felt  that  this  plan  lends  itself 
to  the  surest  accomplishment,  in  a  graded  school,  of 
the  aims  and  advantages  looked  for  from  the  Group 
System. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  DAILY  PROGRAM 

HAVING  considered  the  question  of  classification 
of  a  class  into  groups,  and  remembering  that  this 
classification  will  be  constantly  shifting,  according 
to  the  child's  power  to  grasp  each  point  as  it  arises 
in  the  progress  of  the  grade  work,  we  now  reach  the 
point  where  we  must  give  our  attention  to  the  plan- 
ning of  the  daily  program.  A  great  deal  has  been  Planning 

work  in  all 

written  and  said,  implying  that  the  Group  System  subjects 

.  easier  under 

presents  enormous  difficulties  to  the  teacher  in  the  Group 

System. 

planning  of  a  daily  program,  but  a  brief  investiga- 
tion of  these 'complaints  reveals  that  they  have  little 
to  support  them  and  that  the  difficulties  so  loudly 
talked  of  are  not  new,  but  old,  problems.  In  fear 
of  every  new  method  of  procedure  which  seems  to 
involve  revolutionary  changes,  the  teacher  wonders, 
"How  shall  we  ever  be  able  to  cover  all  of  the  course 
of  study?"  It  always  has  been  the  teacher's  cry, 
and  it  seems  as  if  it  always  would  be,  and  yet  the 
difficulty  is  really  less,  not  greater,  when  the  Group 

47 


48  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

System  is  used.  They  forget  that  grouping  is  not 
to  be  done  in  all  the  subjects  of  the  course  of  study, 
and  that  in  all  subjects  where  grouping  is  not  done, 
the  class  receives  the  same  teaching  and  does  the 
same  amount  of  work  as  the  course  of  study  re- 
quires, or  as  has  always  been  the  custom  under  the 
system  of  whole-class  teaching.  The  labor  is  great, 
to  be  sure,  but  the  worry  of  it  disappears.  The 
teacher  is  not  harassed  by  the  thought  of  a  steadily 
increasing  number  falling  behind  in  the  grade  work ; 
since  in  those  subjects  where  grouping  is  done, 
it  is  with  the  specific  purpose  of  making  sure  that 
every  child  in  the  class  makes  the  necessary  ad- 
vances in  that  particular  subject,  and  there  can  be 
no  neglect  of  the  individual  instruction  which  may 
remove  a  stumbling-block  before  it  becomes  a  fatal 
impediment. 
NO  differ-  The  next  question  has  an  even  more  familiar  sound, 


ence  in 


time  assign-  for  it  is  a  no  new  thing  to  hear  teachers  fret  about 

ments  on 

program.  planning  a  time  schedule  so  that  a  sufficient  number 
of  subjects  of  the  course  of  study,  and  the  total 
number  of  minutes  allowed  to  each  subject  for  the 
week,  shall  correspond  with  the  official  time  assign- 
ment. That  the  Group  System  presents  any  real 
or  any  greater  difficulty  on  this  point  is  only  a  bug- 


THE   DAILY   PROGRAM  4Q 

bear  which   teachers  have  conjured  up  for  them- 
selves.    It  is  due  to  a  failure  to  understand  that  the  " 

. 
official  time  assignment  does  not  require  that  every 

one  of  the  allotted  minutes  shall  be  spent  by  the 
teacher  in  giving  actual  instruction  to  the  class,  but 
merely  a  certain  stated  number  of  minutes  shall  be 
given  to  each  subject.  If,  for  example,  out  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  minutes  allowed  for  arithmetic, 
Group  A  spends  seventy-five  in  study  or  seat  work 
in  arithmetic,  it  is  just  as  much  arithmetic  time  for 
the  children  in  that  group  as  are  the  other  seventy- 
five  minutes  during  which  they  are  receiving  in- 
struction by  the  teacher's  voice.  It  is  very  wrong 
to  conclude  that  there  is  any  loss  of  time  for  arith- 
metic because  the  actual  instruction  by  the  teacher 
a  group  receives  is  cut  short.  When  the  teaching  ' 
is  done  in  groups,  greater  concentration  and  effort 
result  in  greater  thoroughness;  and,  provided  that 
the  seat  work  is  properly  planned  and  supervised, 
the  independent  study  is  probably  more  valuable 
than  any  further  instruction  from  the  teacher  on  the 
same  point  could  possibly  be.  It  is  evident,  then, 
that  all  idea  that  the  Group  System  brings  addi- 
tional difficulty  in  regard  to  time  assignment  is  an 
error.  The  teacher  calculates  her  division  of  the  time 


50  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

assignment  into  daily  periods  without  reference  to 
any  question  as  to  whether  she  shall  use  whole -class 
teaching  or  the  Group  System ;  in  other  words,  just 
as  she  always  did. 

The  third  difficulty,  how  to  form  a  time  schedule 
for  the  Group  System  in  such  shape  that  it  can  be 
hung  up  for  inspection  in  the  class  room,  is  annoying, 
but  possible  of  solution.  The  real  truth  is,  that  it 
never  was  possible  to  draw  up  a  program  on  paper 
beautifully  ruled  out  in  red  ink,  every  moment  of 
the  day  duly  accounted  for,  and  then  honestly  say 
that  we  lived  by  it,  day  in,  day  out.  Yet  not  to 
require  a  daily  program  from  teachers  is  to  give 
a  dangerous  liberty,  for  no  program  means  neglect 
of  something,  inevitably  and  always.  The  best  pro- 
gram is  one  which  is  a  guide,  a  daily  reminder, 
yet  allows  change,  alteration,  deviation,  to  meet  the 
occasions  of  the  day's  work  or  the  needs  of  a  class. 
Decidedly  must  the  program  be  of  such  descrip- 
tion when  the  Group  System  is  used  in  the  manner 
explained  in  these  chapters.  The  daily  order  of  ex- 
ercises must  be  a  variable  one,  and  it  is  impossible 
to  plan  a  time  schedule  or  daily  program  for 
every  day  in  the  week  or  every  week  in  the  term. 
Nevertheless,  the  difficulty  is  only  a  trivial  one  to 
the  earnest  teacher. 


THE   DAILY   PROGRAM  51 

In  Bagley's  "  Classroom  Management,"  Chapter 
XIV,  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  the  Batavia  System, 
is  given  a  program  which  can  be  copied  and  used, 
with  slight  modifications,  by  any  teacher  who  uses 
the  scheme  of  constant  groups.  In  the  chapter  on 
school  programs  in  White's  "  School  Management," 
valuable  hints  may  be  obtained,  although  the  pro- 
grams there  given  are  designed  particularly  for 
the  teacher  in  ungraded  schools.  An  excellent  sug- 
gestion is  that  the  teacher  shall  prepare  a  plan  of 
three  days'  work,  calling  them  three  typical  days. 
At  least  once  in  the  three  days  every  form  of  grade 
work  will  appear  on  the  program;  the  use  of  the 
first  three  periods  of  grouping  work  will  be  illustrated 
for  each  group.  On  the  other  two  days  of  the  week 
her  program  may  resemble  any  one  of  the  three 
typical  days,  in  whole  or  part,  depending  upon  the 
progress  the  class  has  made  or  the  interruption  she 
has  had  to  contend  with.  An  illustration  of  a  pro- 
gram planned  for  three  typical  days  follows. 


TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 


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THE   DAILY   PROGRAM 


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TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO    STUDY 


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THE   DAILY   PROGRAM  55 

In  the  foregoing  program,  the  abbreviations  used 
are  to  be  understood  as  follows :  T.  means  Teach ; 
D.  means  Drill;  S.  means  Seat  Work.  Attention 
must  first  be  given  to  certain  general  considerations 
wise  for  every  teacher  to  bear  in  mind  when  pre- 
paring her  own  group  program. 

1.  The  most  difficult  point  to  consider  in  planning  Essential 

considera- 

the  program  is  that  the  groups  shall  alternate  in-  tions  in 

planning  a 

struction  and  seat-work  periods  so  that  no    child  group  pro- 
gram, 
shall  have  two  long,   successive  periods  of  study, 

even  if  in  different  subjects.  It  is  easy  to  see  that 
the  ordinary  laws  of  fatigue  and  interest  require 
obedience  to  this  injunction. 

2.  However,  the  children  may  vary  their  seat  work 
from  the  subject  of  the  lesson  in  progress,  the  pro- 
gram must  be  planned  so  that  the  teacher's  periods 
of  instruction  in  any  one  subject  shall  be  continuous. 
To  illustrate:   The   program   calls   for   arithmetic, 
the  fourth  period  in  the  development  and  drill  of 
the  point  taught.     Group  A,  therefore,  is  to  do  seat 
work  for  the  entire  period,  probably  not  in  arith- 
metic at  all ;  Group  B  is  to  receive  a  short  drill  from 
the  teacher,  and  then  do  seat  work  in  further  ap- 
plication of  the  lesson;    Group  C  is  to  begin  with 
seat  work,  which  may  or  may  not  be  arithmetic, 


56  TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO  STUDY 

and  then  receive  detailed  and  individual  instruction 
from  the  teacher.  The  teacher  must  give  her  short 
drill  to  Group  B,  and  her  instruction  time  to  Group 
C,  so  that  they  follow  each  other,  thus  making  the 
teacher's  arithmetic  work  continuous.^  Any  other 
arrangement  complicates  the  teacher's  problem  by 
an  unnecessary  scattering  of  her  own  attention  and 
nervous  energy,  which  has  its  reactionary  effect  upon 
the  children.  Furthermore,  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  the  spirit  of  a  lesson  pervading  a  room  so  that 
children  and  teacher  work  more  rapidly  and  with 
less  friction.  For  this  reason,  the  seat  work  is 
somewhat  easier  to  supervise  if  the  group  at  seat 
work  is  studying  the  same  subject  as  the  work 
of  the  group  receiving  instruction.  Therefore,  if 
either  Group  A  or  Group  C  is  to  do  arithmetic  as 
seat  work  at  any  time  during  the  day,  this  period, 
when  the  spirit  and  interest  of  arithmetic  are  in  the 
air,  is  the  time  when  the  children  of  these  two  groups 
will  work  arithmetic  most  advantageously. 

3.  By  judicious  use  of  manual  work  as  seat  work, 
much  time  can  be  saved  and  applied  to  an  extension 
of  the  time  allowed  for  one  or  more  of  the  three  R's. 
Because  this  is  possible  is  one  basis  for  the  claim 
that  the  use  of  the  Group  System  insures  drill.  As  a 


THE   DAILY    PROGRAM  57 

result,  the  program  may  not  show  so  many  minutes 
devoted  to  actual  class  work  and  instruction  in  all 
the  various  forms  of  manual  work,  and  may  show 
many  more  minutes  devoted  to  instruction  and  drill 
by  the  teacher  in  the  so-called  essential  subjects. 
Yet  the  manual  work  suffers  no  loss  in  time,  quantity, 
or  quality,  as  will  be  fully  shown  in  the  discussion 
of  seat  work  in  a  later  chapter ;  for  there  is  no  valid 
reason  to  urge  against  using  manual  work  as  seat 
work  for  unoccupied  groups  or  for  children  who 
finish  their  work  ahead  of  the  rest,  and  there  are  many 
valid  reasons  in  favor,  gained  from  actual  experience. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  INSTRUCTION  PERIOD 

IN  the  last  chapter  frequent  reference  was  made 
to  periods  of  instruction  and  periods  of  seat  work. 
Whether  the  use  of  the  Group  System  is  based  upon 
the  Constant  Group  scheme  or  upon  the  Shifting 
Group  scheme,  the  daily  program  must  provide  for 
periods  of  instruction  and  periods  of  seat  work, 
for  each  group  of  children  and  in  each  subject 
of  study  where  grouping  is  done.  The  considera- 
tion of  the  period  of  instruction  first  invites  atten- 
tion. 
Purposes  It  is  during  the  instruction  period  that  the  children 

of  the  .111 

instruction    in  the  particular  group  taught  share  in  the  develop- 
i.  TO          ment  of  the  lesson  topic  and  derive  the  benefit  of  the 

teach. 

teacher's  skill  in  its  presentation  and  in  the  clear- 
ing away  of  its  difficulties.  Far  from  permitting  a 
neglect  of  all  that  has  been  gained  by  the  progress 
in  the  study  of  method  during  the  last  fifty  years, 
the  Group  System  demands  that,  during  the  in- 

58 


THE   INSTRUCTION   PERIOD  59 

struction  period,  the  teacher  must  use  all  that  she 
has  learned  of  apperception,  of  the  five  formal  steps 
in  teaching,  of  the  principles  of  education.  Since, 
in  the  seat-work  period  to  follow,  either  on  the  same 
day  or  later,  the  children  must  apply,  unaided,  in 
self-reliant  study,  and  to  specific  problems,  the 
knowledge  gained  during  the  previous  period,  it  is 
essential  that  the  teacher  conduct  her  instruction 
period  so  that  no  confusion  of  thought  can  remain 
to  cause  the  child's  seat  work  to  be  wasted  effort. 
This  presentation,  development,  and  thorough  ex- 
planation of  the  new  lesson  topic  is  the  primary 
use  of  the  instruction  period. 

Unless  the  teacher  is  both  earnest  and  conscien-  2.  TO  hear 

lessons. 

tious,  there  accompanies  the  use  of  the  Group 
System  a  danger  that  the  instruction  period  will 
degenerate  into  a  mere  hearing  of  lessons  studied 
in  memoriter  fashion  during  the  seat-work  period. 
A  very  urgent  warning,  therefore,  must  be  given 
against  usurping  time  which  belongs  to  actual 
teaching  for  the  hearing  of  set  tasks  which  have 
not  been  preceded  by  careful  presentation  and 
development.  Yet  recitations  must  be  heard,  the 
children's  progress,  whether  that  resulting  from 
teaching  or  that  resulting  from  independent  study, 


60  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

must  be  tested  and  noted.     This  constitutes  the  sec- 
ondary use  of  the  instruction  period,  and  a  legitimate 
use,  unless  allowed  to  assume  undue  importance. 
3.  TO  reach      A  third  purpose  of  the  instruction  period,  as  the 

the  individ-j     . 

uai.  time  devoted  to  any  one  lesson  topic  advances  and 

;  the  groups  grow  smaller,  is  individual  teaching. 
'  Individual  instruction  is  intended  especially  for  the 
benefit  of  children  in  Group  C,  so  that  by  a  new 
presentation,  a  new  way  of  approach,  the  discovery 
of  some  peculiar,  childish,  or  individual  misappre- 
hension, the  teacher  may  remove  for  them  the  diffi- 
culty with  which  they  are  struggling.  It  is  this  use 
of  the  instruction  period  for  individual  teaching 
that  the  Group  System  has  borrowed  from  the  Pueblo 
and  Batavia  plans.  As  was  early  discovered  in 
those  experiments,  so  in  the  Group  System  is  it 
important  for  the  teacher  to  remember  that  the 
child  knows  really  only  what  he  does  for  himself, 
and  for  the  teacher  to  avoid,  therefore,  telling  a 
child  the  point  which  he  has  been  so  slow  to  grasp. 
Neither  should  the  period  of  individual  instruction 
ever  be  used  for  the  development  of  a  forthcoming 
lesson  topic  in  the  grade  work. 

The  problem  of  seating  the  group  to  receive  in- 
struction has  received  considerable  discussion,  and 


THE   INSTRUCTION   PERIOD  61 

in  crowded  conditions  may  present  real  difficulty.  Seating  the 

group  dur- 

Many  plans  have  been  suggested  and  tried,  and  all  ing  instruc- 
of  those  which  have  practical  value  will  be  explained. 
The   choice   of   which   to   use   cannot   be   decided 
arbitrarily;    the  teacher's  own  judgment  must  de-  ' 
termine  which  is  best   adapted   to   her  conditions, 
her  program,   her   purposes.      One    plan   arranges  ' 
for  the  group  receiving  instruction  to  be  isolated 
at  the  blackboard,  the  groups  at  seat  work  to  remain 
in    their   regular   places.     According   to    a    second  v 
plan,  the  teacher  places  at  the  front  of  the  room  a 
table  with  chairs  around  it  for  the  use  of  the  groups 
receiving  instruction;    the  regular  class   seats  are 
reserved  for  seat  work  and  whole-class  instruction. 
A  third  plan  provides  that  the  teacher  calls  up  to  • 
her  desk  the  group  to  receive  instruction,  leaving 
the  other  children  in  their  seats  at  study  or  seat 
work.     A  fourth  plan,  more  frequently  used  in  city  < 
schools  than  any  of  the  preceding,  is  that  of  reserv- 
ing one  section  of  seats  to  be  known  as  recitation 
section;    the  seats  in   the  recitation  section  should 
not  be  assigned  to  any  pupils  as  regular  class  seats, 
and  when  any  one  group  is  to  receive  instruction, 
the  teacher  merely  gives  directions  to  take  seats  in 
the  recitation  section. 


62  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

In  large  city  schools,  the  plan  in  most  common 
use  is  a  modification  of  this  last  plan.  One  section 
of  seats,  usually  that  most  conveniently  placed  for 
the  largest  amount  of  blackboard  space,  is  known 
as  the  recitation  section.  As  crowded  conditions 
preclude  the  possibility  of  reserving  it  unoccupied 
as  class  seats,  some  pupils  must  change  seats.  In 
order  to  arrange  for  this  with  as  little  shifting  as 
possible,  the  pupils  are  grouped  and  seated  accord- 
ing to  the  grouping  in  the  subject  where  the  group- 
ing is  most  nearly  constant,  usually  reading.  These 
places  are  their  regular  class  seats.  For  all  subjects 
in  which  grouping  is  not  used,  the  children  occupy 
these  same  seats.  For  all  other  subjects  in  which 
grouping  is  done,  the  children  change  seats,  re- 
maining in  these  seats  only  for  the  time  given 
for  the  subject.  To  illustrate  by  citing  instances 
seen  in  three  different  public  schools  in  New 
York:- 

In  a  class  of  Grade  3  A,  Third  Year,  First  Half, 
in  Public  School  65,  Girls'  Department,  the  pupils' 
regular  seats  were  assigned  according  to  their  group- 
ing in  reading,  the  class  being  divided  into  three 
groups.  During  the  reading  lesson,  no  changes  of 
seats  were  made.  Group  B  read  silently  as  seat 


THE   INSTRUCTION   PERIOD  63 

work  throughout  the  period  ;  Group  A  was  employed 
at  seat  work,  part  reading,  part  manual  work, 
throughout  the  period ;  Group  C  received  instruction 
from  the  teacher,  without  changing  from  their  regular 
seats.  A  penmanship  lesson  followed.  The  class 
was  again  divided  into  three  groups,  and  the  results 
of  some  previous  period  had  evidently  made  them 
acquainted  with  their  ranking.  Group  A,  accord- 
ing to  the  penmanship  grouping,  received  directions 
to  take  pens,  penmanship  papers,  and  arithmetics; 
Group  B,  to  take  sewing  materials;  Group  C,  to 
take  pens  and  penmanship  papers  to  the  recitation 
section.  It  then  developed  that  the  seats  occupied 
by  Group  C  of  the  grouping  for  the  reading  lesson 
were  the  seats  of  the  recitation  section.  The  children 
already  seated  in  that  section,  who  were  also  in- 
cluded in  Group  C  for  penmanship,  remained  seated 
and  made  no  change ;  the  rest  of  the  children  seated 
in  that  section  left  their  seats  and  took  those  vacated 
by  children  who  had  been  seated  in  other  parts  of 
the  room,  but  must  move  to  take  seats  in  the  recita- 
tion section  as  members  of  Group  C  in  penmanship. 
The  directions  for  seat  work  for  Group  A  and 
Group  B  were  meanwhile  written  on  the  blackboard 
by  the  teacher.  The  changes  used  up  less  than 


64  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

three  minutes,  and  the  children  settled  down  at  once 
to  their  respective  tasks. 

Observation  was  also  made  in  a  class  of  Grade  2  A, 
Second  Year,  First  Half,  in  Public  School  2.  When 
the  visitor  entered,  the  boys  were  at  work  at  arith- 
metic in  two  groups;  Group  A  was  working  ex- 
amples from  questions  on  papers  distributed  by 
the  teacher;  the  rest  of  the  class  was  receiving 
instruction  from  the  teacher.  At  the  end  of  the 
period,  the  teacher  spent  a  few  hasty  minutes  in 
collecting  and  inspecting  the  seat  work  of  Group  A, 
giving  particular  care  to  that  of  two  boys  only,  who 
were  chosen,  she  said  later,  because  of  an  attempt 
on  a  previous  day  to  neglect  their  seat  work.  During 
these  few  minutes,  the  rest  of  the  boys  worked  an 
example,  and  the  two  or  three  who  finished  before 
the  teacher  was  ready,  took  some  raffia  work  from 
their  desks.  The  arithmetic  period  at  an  end,  the 
children  returned  to  their  regular  class  seats  at  the 
teacher's  command.  A-  two-minute  physical  drill 
and  a  nature-study  lesson  followed,  during  which 
there  was  no  mention  of  groups.  Next,  the  teacher 
gave  directions  for  a  reading  lesson.  Groups  A 
and  C  were  told  to  take  out  the  same  book ;  Group 
B,  a  different  book,  in  which  the  teacher  assigned 


THE   INSTRUCTION   PERIOD  65 

a  definite  portion  for  silent  reading  and  certain  facts 
of  the  story  to  be  discovered.  After  a  few  minutes 
spent  in  reading  aloud  by  individual  children  in 
Group  A  and  quiet  listening  by  those  in  Group  C, 
the  children  of  Group  A  were  told  to  do  illustrative 
drawing  in  relation  to  what  they  had  read,  and  the 
teacher  turned  her  attention  for  the  rest  of  the  period 
to  drilling  the  pupils  in  Group  C.  Almost  at  the 
end  of  the  period,  the  teacher  called  two  boys  from 
Group  A  to  sit  with  two  in  Group  C  and  help  them. 
No  seats  were  changed  for  this  reading  lesson,  show- 
ing that  in  this  class,  also,  the  seats  were  assigned 
according  to  the  grouping  in  reading. 

Still  a  third  instance  will  be  cited,  so  that  teachers 
may  have  sufficient  illustration  of  how  to  arrange 
the  seating  of  their  groups  for  instruction  and  seat 
work.  This  third  observation  was  made  in  a  third- 
year  special  class  in  Public  School  120.  Here  the 
teacher  had  Constant  Groups  in  both  arithmetic  and 
reading,  and  Shifting  Groups  in  spelling  and  penman- 
ship. A  reading  lesson  was  first  on  the  program. 
No  changing  of  seats  was  necessary,  the  seating 
having  been  done  according  to  the  grouping  in 
reading;  in  this  case,  however,  the  reason  was  the 
greater  convenience  in  distributing  books.  To 


66  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

Group  A,  seat  work  in  a  third  reader  was  assigned ; 
to  Group  B  and  Group  C  together  was  given  a  short 
drill  in  phonics  and  phonograms,  after  which  seat 
work  in  an  easier  third  reader  was  assigned  to  Group 
B.  With  the  use  of  a  second  reader,  Group  C  re- 
ceived instruction  from  the  teacher.  After  a  two- 
minute  physical  drill,  a  penmanship  lesson  followed. 
It  was  the  first  lesson  on  a  new  letter,  and  the  class 
received  instruction  as  a  whole.  At  the  end  of  the 
period,  the  teacher  glanced  rapidly  over  the  papers, 
saying,  as  she  did  so,  " satisfactory,"  or  "need  more 
drill,"  and  listing  them  as  Group  A  and  B  for 
the  next  penmanship  lesson.  An  arithmetic  lesson 
came  next  in  order,  and  at  the  teacher's  command, 
"Group  B,  take  recitation  seats,"  the  boys  seated 
as  Group  A  for  reading  left  their  places  and  took 
seats  vacated  by  those  in  Group  B  for  arithmetic, 
guided  somewhat  by  the  teacher,  who  kept  watch 
to  prevent  mischievous  companionships.  All  the 
children  in  a  group  which  is  to  receive  instruction 
from  the  teacher  must  sit  together.  The  other 
groups  may  or  may  not  sit  together,  depending  upon 
whether  the  teacher  is  willing  that  there  shall  be  as- 
sistance given  from  pupil  to  pupil  in  the  seat  work, 
or  whether  she  desires  that  the  seat  work  shall  be 


THE   INSTRUCTION   PERIOD  67 

absolutely  independent  effort.  With  this  final  word, 
and  the  illustrations  given,  enough  has  been  said  to 
guide  the  teacher  in  seating  her  children  in  groups 
for  either  the  seat  work  or  the  instruction  period. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    STUDY   PERIOD    AND    SEAT   WORK  —  PREPARA 
TION   AND   SUPERVISION 

THE  alternating  period  of  study,  or,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  the  seat- work  or  busy- work  period, 
needs  careful  attention,  for  the  greatest  problem 
of  the  Group  System  is  to  provide  the  groups  not 
receiving  instruction  from  the  teacher  with  work 
having  a  definite  end  and  possible  of  supervision 
and  correction  in  the  shortest  possible  space  of  time. 
If  carelessly  assigned,  without  proper  relation  to 
the  subject-matter  taught  in  the  period  of  instruction, 
if  not  properly  supervised,  the  seat  work  becomes 
an  abuse.  Instead  of  being  trained  in  habits  of 
self-reliant  study,  the  great  advantage  we  assert  to 
be  gained  from  the  use  of  the  Group  System,  the 
children  become  hopelessly  given  to  careless,  slovenly 
habits  of  thought  and  study,  or,  still  worse,  fall  into 
ways  of  mischievous  idleness. 

Properly  planned,  the  seat  work  has  four  distinct 
aims:  First,  to  make  clearer  the  lessons  already 

68 


THE   STUDY   PERIOD   AND   SEAT  WORK          69 

learned,  and  give  the  pupil  a  chance  to  get  a  firm  * 
grasp  of  the  principles  involved.  Second,  to  provide 
drill  or  practice  in  a  lesson  just  presented  to  the  class, 
and  thereby  make  it  permanent.  Third,  to  prepare 
for  the  teaching  of  some  new  point.  Fourth,  in  the 
upper  grades  particularly,  to  train  the  child  to  get 
new  knowledge  by  independent,  unaided  study.  If 
the  teacher  is  to  accomplish  these  aims,  there  are 
several  considerations  which  she  must  constantly 
bear  in  mind,  both  in  the  preparation  of  seat  work 
and  in  the  supervision  of  it  in  the  class  room.  Teach- 
ers must  be  earnestly  cautioned  in  regard  to  these 
points,  for  in  places  where  the  Group  System  has 
failed  to  give  satisfactory  results,  the  failure  can  be 
directly  traced  to  errors  in  management  of  the  seat- 
work  problem.  Of  the  two  points  involved,  the 
preparation  and  the  supervision  of  the  seat  work, 
the  former  is  the  crux  of  the  whole  question  of  suc- 
cess or  failure  in  the  use  of  the  Group  System.  It 
is  the  first  point  in  this  seat-work  or  study  period 
problem  to  which  attention  shall  therefore  be  given. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  seat  work  in  any  or  all  Seat  work 

r    i  T_  •  •  •  .  must  be 

of  the  subjects  in  which  grouping  is  made,  the  teacher  real  study. 
must  see  to  it  that  the  seat  work  calls  for  real  study, 
and  is  not  mere  busy  work.     From  neglect  of  this 


70  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

thought  has  come  the  discredit  now  generally  at- 
tached to  the  term  "busy  work."  The  discredit 
has  been  justly  earned,  too,  as  may  be  readily  dis- 
covered from  the  perusal  of  many  of  the  books  and 
journals  supposedly  meeting  the  demand  for  sug- 
gestive busy  work.  The  teachers  who  prepared 
the  plans  and  types  of  seat  work  given  in  the  suc- 
ceeding chapters  were  compelled  to  read  through 
an  enormous  mass  of  material  in  order  to  glean 
what  had  really  pedagogic  merit.  Much  of  it  had 
to  be  rejected  as  being  without  any  purpose  except 
to  keep  the  child  in  the  study  group  quietly  busy. 
Such  seat  work  is  easy  to  think  of,  and  requires  little 
time  in  preparation.  Yet  the  fact  that  teachers'  mag- 
azines devote  so  much  space  to  this  sort  of  mate- 
rial shows  that  teachers  are  feeling  and  express- 
ing their  need.  Let  the  teacher,  then,  whether  she 
prepares  her  own  seat-work  exercises  or  selects  them 
from  suggestions  in  books  or  magazines,  submit 
every  exercise  to  the  test  of  its  value  as  real  study. 
Must  have  f  One  of  the  best  tests  of  study  value  of  a  seat-work 

definite  re- 
lation to       exercise  is  its  relation  to  the  grade  work  and  to  the 

course  of  . 

study.  course  of  study.  That  relation  must  be  very  definite, 
and  as  clear  to  the  pupil  as  to  the  teacher.  If  the 
child's  seat-work  exercise  is  the  working  of  four  or 


THE   STUDY   PERIOD   AND   SEAT  WORK          71 

five  problems  in  arithmetic,  he  must  understand,  as 
well  as  the  teacher,  that  those  problems  are  in  illus- 
tration of  some  point  taught  by  the  teacher,  or  in  drill 
on  some  point  in  which  he  has  a  known  weakness. 
If,  during  the  reading  period,  Group  A  is  to  do  seat 
work,  and  needs  no  further  drill  on  the  lesson  the 
class  is  studying,  supplementary  reading  in  some 
other  subject  will  be  legitimate  seat  work  of  real 
study  value,  recognized  by  the  pupil  as  well  as  the 
teacher ;  for  he  will  know  that  he  is  receiving  practice 
in  reading,  and  in  addition  is  gaining  new  knowledge 
on  the  subject-matter  of  some  other  lesson.  The 
definite  relationship  of  the  seat  work  to  the  grade  work 
and  the  course  of  study  is,  then,  the  second  considera- 
tion the  teacher  must  bear  in  mind  in  the  preparation 
of  seat  work. 
Another  evil  laid  to  busy  work  and  bringing  con-  Must  not 

require 

sequent  discredit  to  the  Group  System  is  that  seat  constant 

writing. 

work  which  really  keeps  children  busy  demands 
constant  writing.  The  resultant  injury  to  penman- 
ship, of  course,  is  obvious.  That  this  is  necessarily 
so  is  entirely  untrue.  The  best  types  of  seat  work 
for  the  lowest  grades  require  little  or  no  writing. 
Reference  to  the  suggestions  given  in  Chapter  IV 
in  illustration  of  the  method  of  classification  into 


72  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

groups  in  a  first-year  class,  will  show  that  little  use 
of  writing  is  there  demanded.  Examinations  of  the 
types  of  seat  work  in  the  succeeding  chapters  will 
show  that  the  intention  of  the  seat  work  recommended 
is  to  get  away  from  written  exercises  and  to  demand 
logical  thought,  systematic  use  of  various  materials, 
and  trained  use  of  a  text-book.  So  shall  seat  work 
and  the  Group  System  accomplish  its  most  valuable 
end,  —  teaching  the  child  to  study,  —  and  so  shall 
seat  work  be  redeemed  from  the  odium  of  injury  to 
penmanship.  The  teacher's  third  consideration  in 
the  preparation  of  seat  work  is,  therefore,  that 
it  must  not  demand  constant  writing. 

Must  have  In  the  fourth  place,  the  teacher  must  be  sure  that 
the  seat  work  will  interest  the  child  and  fix  his  at- 
tention. Interest  does  not  at  all  necessarily  mean 
please  in  the  sense  of  amuse.  If  the  three  preceding 
cautions  have  been  heeded  by  the  teacher,  little 
thought  need  be  given  to  the  interest  of  the  seat  work. 
Interest  perforce  accompanies  an  exercise  the  value 
and  relationship  of  which  are  clear,  and  the  material 
for  which  need  thought  and  careful  handling.  Also, 
when,  as  is  increasingly  true,  the  manual  work  pro- 
vides seat-work  occupations,  the  question  of  interest 
ceases  to  complicate  the  seat- work  problem.  In  all 


THE   STUDY   PERIOD   AND   SEAT  WORK          73 

certainty,  however,  the  teacher  must  insure  the  child's 
interest  in  his  seat  work  and  consequent  attention, 
else  he  is  likely  to  have  a  disorderly  group,  and 
will  fail  to  give  the  child  habits  of  self-reliant 
study. 

In  the  upper  grades,  where  study  from  text-books  use  of  a 

text -book 

can  be  required  as  seat  work,  the  teacher  s  labor  in  as  seat 
preparation  of  seat  work  is  not  nearly  so  great  as  in 
the  grades  below.  Just  as  early  in  the  grades  as 
possible  the  teacher  should  begin  to  train  the  chil- 
dren to  use  a  text-book  for  seat  work  and  silent  study. 
Even  in  the  lowest  grades,  she  can  begin  by  training 
the  little  ones  to  look  at  a  picture  book,  and  next  to 
read  a  story  in  quiet  order  throughout  a  seat-work 
period.  It  is  becoming  less  and  less  the  practice  of 
parents  in  the  home  to  oversee  the  home  study  of 
their  children,  and  the  duty  of  teaching  the  child  to 
study  a  text-book  rests  upon  the  teacher  more  heavily 
than  ever  before.  And  the  use  of  a  book  for  purposes 
of  study  is  something  requiring  definite  teaching 
and  no  easy  task.  In  assigning  work  from  a  text- 
book for  study  during  the  seat-work  period,  the 
teacher  is  not  only  preparing  valuable  busy  work, 
but  giving  training  in  how  to  study. 

Still  another  suggestion  may  be  added  to  assist 


74  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

in  the  solution  of  this  problem  of  preparation  of  seat 
work,  for  the  teacher  may  save  much  labor  by  pre- 
serving the  seat-work  exercises  for  use  by  different 
groups.  The  same  seat  work  may  be  used  at  differ- 
ent times  in  the  term.  In  the  second  period  devoted 
to  a  lesson  topic,  Group  A  does  seat  work;  let 
Group  B  use  the  same  exercise  in  the  third  period, 
and  Group  C,  the  same  exercise  at  some  later  period. 
Care  in  preparing  and  preserving  seat-work  plans 
and  devices  will  spare  the  teacher  a  vast  amount  of 
time  and  labor,  and  will  teach  the  child  to  be  system- 
atic and  orderly. 

The  teacher's  preparation  of  seat  work  earnestly 
done  with  these  considerations  borne  in  mind,  the 
difficulties  which  make  the  problem  of  supervision 
of  the  seat  work  are  almost  all  removed.  Some  two 
or  three  points  remain  to  be  enforced  as  relating 
directly  to  the  teacher's  duties  in  supervising  and 
correcting  seat  work.  Neglect  of  these  points  will 
just  as  surely  cause  failure  as  will  neglect  of  the  con- 
siderations treated  in  the  discussion  of  the  teacher's 
duties  in  preparing  seat  work. 

Probably  the  first  in  importance  is  the  correcting 
of  the  seat  work  assigned.  That  the  teacher  does 
not  correct  the  seat  work,  that  errors  and  faults, 


THE   STUDY  PERIOD   AND   SEAT  WORK          75 

whether  of  accident,  ignorance,  or  intention,  escape  * 
her  detection,  and  that  no  explanation  of  errors  due 
to  ignorance  or  punishment  of  carelessness  follows 
the  doing  of  the  seat  work,  —  these  things  rapidly 
become  known  to  the  children.  They  feel  that  the 
work  has  no  material  value,  and  soon  cease  to  do  any 
real  studying.  The  failure  to  correct  and  super- 
vise the  seat  work  is  one  cause  of  the  slovenly  habits 
and  mischievous  idleness  which  have  in  some  places 
been  alleged  to  result  from  the  use  of  the  Group 
System.  No  need  exists  for  the  correction  of  the 
seat  work  to  become  a  burden  to  the  teacher.  Poor 
methods  of  management  with  regard  to  preparation, 
as  well  as  the  correction  of  seat  work,  are  responsible 
for  the  extraordinary  number  of  hours  some  teachers 
report  that  they  spend  upon  their  class  work  in  con- 
sequence of  the  use  of  the  Group  System.  It  is  the 
written  seat  work  which  uses  up  so  much  time  and 
effort  in  correction,  and  therefore,  if  the  teacher  plans 
seat  work  of  a  kind  which  demands  little  or  no  writ- 
ing, as  suggested  in  the  discussion  of  the  preparation 
of  seat  work,  the  labor  of  correction  has  been  con- 
siderably lessened. 

In  the  second  place,  each  period  of  seat  work  in  The  super- 

.  vision  of 

any  study  is,  according  to  our  planning  of  a  pro-  seat  work. 


76  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

gram  as  given  in  Chapter  V,  followed  in  the  next 
period  devoted  to  that  subject,  by  a  short  drill. 
During  the  drill  the  teacher's  questions  will  expose 
:  the  faithfulness  to  study  during  the  seat-work  period 
preceding.  In  the  third  place,  if  the  teacher  has 

^reasons  for  making  immediately  clear  to  the  pupils 
that  their  work  is  not  escaping  correction,  she  may 
pass  rapidly  down  the  aisles,  selecting  apparently 
at  random  work  to  which  she  gives  careful  correction 
before  the  entire  class.  Let  her  include  in  this  random 
selection  the  work  of  all  children  whom  she  suspects 

/of  neglect  or  idleness.  A  fourth  suggestion  for  re- 
lieving the  labor  of  correction  comes  from  a  plan 
followed  by  some  teachers  who  have  trained  pupils 
of  the  brightest  section  to  be  helpers  in  the  correction 
of  busy  work.  Thus,  Group  A's  seat  work  may 
sometimes  consist  in  the  correction  of  exercises  done 
by  Groups  B  and  C.  A  fundamental  fact  in  human 
nature  insures  the  doing  of  this  form  of  seat  work 
without  very  much  forcing  or  watching  on  the  part 
of  the  teacher,  and  the  close  examination  of  papers 
demanded  from  the  members  of  Group  A  insures 
the  requisite  amount  of  drill  for  Group  A.  Likewise 
is  insured  careful  examination  on  the  part  of  the 
members  of  Group  B  or  Group  C  on  the  return  of 


THE   STUDY   PERIOD   AND   SEAT   WORK          77 

their  papers,  so  strong  will  be  their  wish  to  see  that 
full  justice  is  done  them.  It  saves  the  teacher's 
labor  and  it  prevents  disturbance  and  interruption. 
The  arguments  and  appeals  to  the  teacher  which 
follow  the  return  of  the  papers,  if  wisely  managed, 
are  not  disturbances,  but  another  means  of  enforcing 
the  point  at  issue. 

Finally,  the  supervision  and  correction  of  seat  work  Definite  as- 
signments, 
are  considerably  easier  when  the  teacher  makes  her 

assignments  clearly  and  definitely  in  simple  language. 
Part  of  this  definiteness  will  consist  in  giving  the 
assignments  in  written  directions,  whether  on  the 
blackboard  or  on  charts  or  on  slips  of  paper  or  cards 
distributed  to  each  child,  removing  in  such  manner 
the  possibility  of  disturbing  questions  from  the  for- 
getful or  thoughtless  child. 

By  constant  insistence  upon  responsibility  for ' 
work  assigned,  by  planning  the  seat  work  so  that  a 
rapid  glance  at  the  child's  desk  will  detect  glaring 
errors,  if  not  all;  by  sharp  questioning  during  the 
drill  period  following  the  seat-work  period;  by  oc- 
casionally correcting  immediately  the  work  of  a  few 
children,  always  including  that  of  the  child  of  care- 
less habits ;  by  using  pupil  helpers ;  by  occasionally 
returning  carefully  corrected  and  marked  papers 


78  TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

done  during  a  period  of  written  seat  work,  the  teacher 
will  secure  opportunity  to  do  the  inevitable  correc- 
tion of  seat  work  without  imposing  upon  herself 
an  unnecessarily  heavy  burden  outside  of  school 
hours. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE   STUDY   PERIOD   AND    SEAT    WORK 

Practical  Management 

A  FEW  suggestions  oh  the  management  of  the  seat- 
work  group  and  on  the  arrangement  of  seat-work  ma- 
terials may  greatly  assist  the  busy,  earnest  teacher, 
and  go  far  towards  removing  some  of  the  discipline 
problems  with  which  a  weak  teacher  finds  herself 
confronted. 

J 

The  secret  of  order  in  any  group  during  the  study  Keep  every 

child  busy. 

period  lies  in  keeping  every  member  of  the  group 
busy.  It  is  usually  wise  to  give  out  more  work  than 
can  possibly  be  accomplished  in  the  time  given.  Of 
this  work  a  certain  amount  should  be  fixed  upon  as 
the  minimum ;  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  mini- 
mum the  teacher  must  hold  each  pupil  responsible, 
although,  of  course,  she  will  not  let  any  child  know 
in  advance  that  there  is  a  minimum,  or  what  the 
minimum  will  be. 

Pupils  at  seat  work  must  not  be  allowed  to  dis-  NO  dis- 
turbing 
turb  one  another  or  the  teacher  by  asking  questions  questions  or 

.  directions. 

or  for  repeated  directions.     This  is  part  of  their 

79 


8o  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

training  in  self-reliance.  Neither  must  teachers  dis- 
turb the  thought 'of  pupils  at  seat  work  or  destroy 
the  continuity  of  the  lesson  for  the  group  under 
instruction  by  interrupting  the  work  of  the  one  to 
correct  the  work  of  the  other.  Definite  assignments 
should  avert  any  necessity  for  doing  so.  If  occasion 
arises  when  it  cannot  be  avoided,  the  teacher  should 
give  the  needed  explanation  briefly  and  quietly,  re- 
turning at  once  to  the  group  she  is  teaching. 

The  use  of  pupil  teachers  may  be  of  great  assistance 
in  securing  both  the  points  just  mentioned.  One 
bright  child  may  be  designated  to  take  charge  of  a 
group  at  seat  work.  He  may  be  called  "  Captain " 
or  " Helper,"  or  some  other  term  which  will  hold  his 
interest  in  his  task  by  its  appeal  to  his  natural  am- 
bition and  love  of  praise  and  will  also  confer  upon 
him  authority  in  the  eyes  of  his  mates.  Making  sure 
that  he  thoroughly  understands  the  work  assigned 
to  the  group,  the  teacher  may  then  leave  with  him  the 
duty  of  answering  necessary  questions,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  studies  his  own  lesson.  This  is  the 
third  use  of  pupil  teachers  alluded  to  in  this  dis- 
cussion of  the  Group  System.  In  one  instance, 
they  are  used  to  give  instruction  to  backward  chil- 
dren or  to  children  absent  from  school  on  the  day 


THE    STUDY   PERIOD   AND   SEAT  WORK          8 1 

/ 

of  the  first  presentation  of  the  lesson.  In  another, 
to  assist  in  the  correction  of  seat  work,  and  in  the 
third,  to  act  as  a  guide  or  helper  to  a  group  at  seat 
work.  In  all  these  instances,  the  assistance  to  the 
teacher  is  great,  and  the  training  to  the  child  of  even 
greater  value.  Yet  the  teacher  must  be  cautious  in 
her  use  of  pupil  teachers,  for  there  are  many  evils 
which  might  creep  in. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  teacher's  preparation  of  seat  Care  of 

materials. 

work,  allusion  was  made  in  the  last  chapter  to  care 
in  the  preparation  and  preservation  of  seat-work 
plans  and  devices  and  their  value  in  training  the 
child  to  be  systematic  and  orderly.  In  Chapter  II, 
the  statement  was  made  that  since  the  materials  and 
busy  work  devices  a  child  uses  are  not  his,  and  must 
be  preserved  intact  for  his  classmates  to  use  later, 
he  learns  care  for  other  people's  rights  and  prop- 
erties. It  is  time  to  call  attention  to  this  training 
as  part  of  the  practical  management  of  seat  work. 
The  teacher  must  make  teaching  and  training  in  the 
care,  arrangement,  and  systematic  use  of  seat  work 
materials  definitely  one  of  her  aims.  Even  in  the 
lowest  primary  grades  she  can  begin.  For  example, 
the  children  may  have  received  a  box  of  numbers  or 
number  cards  with  which  to  perform  certain  opera- 


82  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

tions  by  laying  the  cards  out  on  their  desks  so  as  to 
make  the  required  combinations.  They  should  be 
taught  that  they  must  first  assort  their  number  cards 
so  that  all  which  bear  the  same  number  are  in  little 
orderly  stacks,  from  which  they  select  the  needed 
numbers.  By  this  means  they  avoid  repeated  han- 
dling and  soiling  of  the  cards;  they  have  learned 
something  in  systematic  arrangement;  they  have 
had  the  teaching  value  of  successively  repeated  im- 
pressions of  the  same  number  and  the  same  number 
combination.  Further  illustration  may  be  obtained 
from  the  suggestions  which  follow. 

Many  a  teacher  fails  in  discipline  and  in  power 
to  interest  her  class  without  knowing  that  her  failure 
is  due  to  her  lack  of  care  and  system  in  the  distribu- 
tion and  collection  of  materials.  Trying  under  all 
sorts  of  class-room  conditions,  but  likely  to  become 
the  most  intolerable  torment  under  the  Group  Sys- 
tem, is  just  the  distribution  of  material  alone.  Some 
general  rules  must  be  made  and  rigidly  adhered  to 
by  both  teacher  and  pupils.  Some  kinds  of  work 
and  some  materials  the  children  may  be  allowed  to 
keep  in  their  desks  and  use  at  need.  Some  other 
materials  may  be  placed  conveniently,  and  the 
children  trained  to  help  themselves  independently 


THE   STUDY   PERIOD   AND   SEAT  WORK          83 

of  teacher  or  monitor.  Some  materials  may  be  put 
into  the  care  of  children  who  are  held  responsible 
for  their  care,  distribution,  and  collection.  A  few 
schemes  actually  in  use  in  many  class  rooms  in  many 
different  schools  may  be  found  helpful. 

1.  What  tools  are  frequently  in  use  may  be  kept 
together  in  boxes  or  bags,  each  individual  child  having 
his  own  box.     Into  these  boxes  may  be  placed  pens, 
pencils,  little  pans  for  paint,  a  brush,  a  compass,  a 
pair  of  scissors,  instruments  that  may  be  needed  for 
raffia  or  other  forms  of  manual  work,  etc.     These 
boxes  should  be  distributed  before  school  opens  in 
the  morning,  and  should  be  collected  at  dismissal  time. 
During  the  day  they  remain  the  care  of  the  child 
himself  in  his  own  desk.     Distribution  and  collection 
may  be  the  duty  of  a  monitor  appointed  for  the 
purpose.     In  any  case,  the  boxes  should  be  inspected 
daily  to  insure  care  and  economy  in  the  use  of  ma- 
terials. 

2.  Blank  books,  supplementary  readers,  etc.,  which 
will  be  needed  for  use  during  the  day,  may  be  laid 
out  on  a  shelf  or  table.     The  child  should  be  trained 
to  help  himself  from  this  shelf  or  table  to  material 
that  belongs  to  him.     Monitors  or  helpers  may  be  ap- 
pointed to  the  duty  of  sorting  these  materials  at  the 


84  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

end  of  the  day  and  of  returning  them  to  their  proper 
places  in  the  closet. 

3.  Materials  like  pegs,  boxes  of  letters,  etc.,  may 
have  assigned  to  them  given  closet  space.     Helpers 
may  then  have  the  task  of  distributing  such  matter 
when  need  arises. 

4.  Much  of  the  seat  work  can  be  written  or  printed 
on  charts  which  may  be  put  away  in  some  fashion  for 
ready  reference.     They  may  be  kept  on  a  line  under 
the  blackboard.     When  needed  for  use,  a  chart  may 
be  hung  up  by  means  of  clasps  on  lines  on  the  level 
with  the  blackboard.     Lines  for  hanging  charts  may 
be  made  of  fine  wire  kept  in  place  by  hooks. 

5.  Many  of  the  seat- work  devices  and  directions 
can  be  written  or  printed  on  cards  or  sheets  of  paper 
of  standard  size.     These  may  be  filed  away  in  en- 
velopes in  boxes    properly  labeled,  distributed  at 
need,   and  preserved  for  use  in  many  terms  and 
classes. 

Frequent  mention  has  been  made  of  seat  work. 
No  matter  what  method  of  using  the  Group  System 
may  be  adopted,  skillfully  planned  busy  work  is 
indispensable  and  is  in  some  respects  the  most  valu- 
able feature  of  the  Group  System.  It  is  by  means 
of  the  busy  work  that  we  get  our  finest  opportunity 


THE   STUDY   PERIOD   AND   SEAT  WORK          85 

to  insist  upon  independent,  self-reliant  thought 
and  work.  But  it  must  be  strongly  emphasized  that 
unless  this  busy  work  is  simply  used  as  a  device  and 
is  accompanied  by  careful  teaching,  according  to  the 
most  approved  methods,  and  by  equally  careful 
correction,  the  result  will  be  worse  than  under  the 
uniform,  machine-made  methods  of  regular  whole- 
class  teaching.  Neither  must  the  preparation  of  the 
busy  work  be  allowed  to  take  so  much  time  and  labor 
that  the  much  more  valuable  features  of  the  Group 
System  become  obscured. 

We  are  now  ready  to  give  our  attention  to  types 
of  seat  work  which  may  be  recommended.  The  illus- 
trations which  are  given  in  the  succeeding  chapters 
have  been  selected  from  over  five  hundred  different 
devices  which  Miss  Leary  and  Miss  Quish  have  been 
nearly  four  years  in  collecting  and  experimenting 
with.  They  are  arranged  according  to  subject  and  in 
the  order  of  difficulty.  In  preparing  these  plans  of 
seat  work,  the  teacher  should  make  as  many  sepa- 
rate copies  of  each  exercise  as  there  are  children  in 
the  group ;  mimeograph  and  hektograph  afford  ready 
means  of  repeating. 


CHAPTER   IX 

PLANS   AND   TYPES  OF   SEAT  WORK 

Reading 
Exercise  i 

Grade.  —  First  school  year. 

Ainit  and  Value.  —  Drill  is  provided  in  the  rec- 
ognition of  new  words.  Hand  and  eye  are  both 
employed  without  injury  to  penmanship.  The  ex- 
ercise may  be  used  either  as  preparation  for  a  reading 
lesson  to  follow,  or  as  drill  on  new  words  occurring 
in  a  lesson  previously  taught. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  makes 
drawings  with  hektograph  ink  on  oak  tag  and  strikes 
off  several  copies.  These  are  cut  up  and  placed  in 
envelopes  so  that  each  envelope  contains  one  of  each 
drawing.  The  drawings  are  in  illustration  of  a 
reading  lesson ;  for  example,  a  story  of  Alice  going 
to  school,  carrying  her  lunch  and  a  cup  and  saucer 
in  a  basket.  Beside  each  pictured  object  in  the 
drawing  the  name  is  written. 

86 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK 


On  separate  sheets  of  oak  tag  she  writes  or  prints 
several  times  each  word  found  on  the  drawings,  as : — 
Alice        school        cup        saucer        basket 
Alice        school        cup        saucer        basket 
Alice        school        cup        saucer        basket 
Alice        school        cup        saucer        basket 


basket 


cup 


ice 


After  striking  off  on  the  hektograph  as  many  copies 
as  were  made  of  the  drawings,  she  cuts  these  copies 
up  so  that  each  word  will  be  on  a  separate  slip  of 
oak  tag.  She  places  in  the  envelopes  with  the 
drawings  several  copies  of  each  word.  Consequently, 
each  envelope  contains  one  complete  set  of  the  draw- 
ings and  several  complete  sets  of  the  words. 

Each  child  who  uses  the  exercise  as  busy  work 
will  receive  an  envelope.  He  will  place  a  drawing 
at  the  back  of  his  desk.  In  columns  in  front  of  the 


88  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 

drawing,  he  must  then  place  the  words  found  on  the 
slips,  corresponding  to  the  words  on  the  drawing, 
selecting  every  copy  of  each  word  from  the  slips  he 
finds  in  his  envelope.  He  must  repeat  this  until 
every  drawing  and  all  the  words  have  been  correct!  • 
placed  in  columns  or  rows.  The  teacher  can  tcl] 
at  a  glance,  as  she  passes  down  the  aisle,  whether  the 
work  has  been  correctly  done  or  not. 

Exercise  2 

Grade.  —  First  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  It  provides  drill  in  the  recog- 
nition of  phonic  elements,  in  the  recognition  of  a 
word  because  it  contains  a  known  phonic  element, 
and  in  the  recognition  of  words  previously  learned 
because  they  have  certain  phonic  elements  in  com- 
mon. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  During  its  period  of 
instruction,  the  group  will  talk  with  the  teacher  about 
the  words  having  as  common  phonic  element,  all, 
at,  ed.  They  will  blend  with  these  phonograms  as 
many  other  sounds  as  time  allows.  They  will  learn 
to  associate  the  phonogram  all  with  the  word  ball,  the 
phonogram  at  with  the  word  cat,  the  phonogram  ed 
with  the  word  bed. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK 


89 


On  a  large  sheet  of  oak  tag,  the  teacher  makes 
drawings  of  a  ball,  a  cat,  and  a  bed.     Beneath  each, 


tajl 


cat          bed. 


she  prints  the  word  ball,  cat,  or  bed,  underlining 
the  phonograms  all,  at,  ed.  Several  copies  are  made, 
cut  up  into  separate  slips  and  placed  in  envelopes,  so 
that  each  envelope  has  one  of  each  drawing. 

On  a  second  sheet  of  oak  tag,  the  following  words 
are  printed  in  columns :  — 


ball 

cat 

bed 

fall 

rat 

fed 

call 

sat 

led 

wall 

fat 

Ned 

stall 

bat 

shed 

hall 

hat 

red 

Copies  are  made  and  cut  up  into  as  many  slips  as 
there  are  words.  The  slips  are  placed  in  the  en- 
velope with  the  drawings. 

The  child  takes  from  the  envelope  the  drawing 


90  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

of  a  ball  with  which  he  has  associated  the  phono- 
gram all.  He  finds  the  word  ball  and  lays  it  on  his 
desk  below  the  picture  of  a  ball.  He  then  arranges 
in  a  column  on  his  desk  all  the  words  having  the  same 
phonic  element,  all.  Similar  work  is  done  with  the 
others. 

Exercise  3 

This  is  really  the  same  exercise  as  given  in  Ex- 
ercise 2,  but  it  is  somewhat  more  difficult.  The 
method  of  work  is  the  same,  except  in  the  preparation 
of  the  second  sheet  of  oak  tag.  The  columns  of 
words  this  time  are  to  be  printed  so  that,  when  cut 
up,  all  the  phonograms  will  be  on  separate  slips, 
and  the  sounds  to  be  combined  with  them  to  make 
words  will  also  be  on  separate  slips,  thus :  — 


b  all 

c  at 

b    ed 

f    all 

r  at 

f     ed 

c    all 

s  at 

1     ed 

w  all 

f  at 

N  ed 

h  all 

b  at 

r     ed 

st  all 

h  at 

sh  ed 

In  doing  the  work  on  his  desk,  the  child  is  given  the 
additional  task  of  forming  the  new  words  by  laying 
the  slips  together. 


PLANS  AND  TYPES  OF  SEAT  WORK  91 

Exercise  4 

Grade.  —  First  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  Exercise  2,  with  the  ad- 
ditional value  that  the  picture  gives  to  the  sound. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  In  the  center  of  a 
circle  draw  or  paste  a  picture  of  a  pail  to  impress  upon 
the  child  the  sound 
of  ai.  At  intervals 
on  the  circumference 
of  the  circle,  place 
letters  or  combina-  * 
tions  of  letters  to  be 
used  by  the  child  in 
making  other  words  * 
containing  the  same 
sound  of  ai.  Let  him 
write  his  words  on  paper,  or,  better  still,  give  him  a 
box  of  printed  letters  to  build  up  the  words  on  his 
desk.  Do  not  let  him  form  only  words  ending  in  I, 
else  the  exercise  becomes  a  drill  in  the  phonogram 
ail. 

Exercise  5 

Grade.  —  First  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  It  provides  drill  in  changing 


92  TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

from  script  to  print  and  vice  versa,  and  in  the  recog- 
nition of  words  previously  taught. 

Preparation  and  Method.  — On  a  sheet  of  oak  tag, 
the  teacher  writes  and  prints,  in  alternate  columns, 
the  words  required  for  the  exercise.  The  words 
chosen  should  consist  of  words  which  have  presented 
difficulties  in  spelling  or  reading.  Each  column  of 
words  should  then  be  cut  up  so  that  each  written 
form  and  each  printed  form  of  each  word  shall  be  on 
separate  slips.  Neither  two  different  words  nor  two 
forms  of  the  same  word  are  to  be  on  the  same  slip. 
The  slips  are  placed  in  the  envelopes.  The  child 
must  select  from  his  envelope  all  the  printed  and  all 
the  script  copies  of  each  word,  and  place  them  beside 
each  other  on  his  desk.  When  finished,  his  desk 
will  look  very  much  the  same  as  the  oak  tag  sheet 
before  it  was  cut  up. 

Exercise  6 

Grade.  —  First  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  It  provides  drill  in  reading, 
in  sentence  building,  in  changing  from  script  to 
print.  Other  values  are  similar  to  those  stated  in 
Exercise  i. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  child  is  provided 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  93 

with  a  card  of  oak  tag,  on  which  the  work  is  arranged 
as  in  the  illustration.  On  the  back  of  the  card 
is  pasted  an  envelope  containing  all  the  material 
needed  to  reproduce  on  his  desk  a  facsimile  of  the 


card.  The  printed  words  must  be  book  print,  cut 
from  old  text  books,  as  the  teacher's  print,  although 
good  enough  for  other  exercises,  does  not  resemble 
book  print  closely  enough  to  provide  just  the  drill 
intended. 

Exercise  7 

Grade.  —  First  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  It  provides  drill  in  the  recog- 
nition of  words  because  of  a  common  phonic  ele- 
ment. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  On  a  card  of  oak  tag, 
the  teacher  draws  a  circle  within  which  she  writes 
a  phonogram  already  known  to  the  class.  Lines  are 


94 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 


drawn  extending  from  the  circle  like  rays.  At  the 
end  of  each  line  is  placed  a  letter  representing  a 
single  sound ;  to  illustrate :  — 


This  card  is  given  to  the  child.  He  constructs 
words  by  combining  the  letters,  as  single  sounds,  one 
at  a  time,  with  the  phonogram  within  the  circle. 
As  he  constructs  each  word,  he  writes  it  on  paper 
provided  him  for  that  purpose. 

Exercise  8 

This  exercise  consists  of  a  combination  of  the  one 
described  in  Exercise  7  with  a  step  in  advance.  The 
new  step  has  for  its 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  95 

Aim  and  Value.  —  The  meaning  and  use  of  the 
words  taught  by  the  fact  that  the  child  must  decide 
which  is  the  appropriate  word  to  use  in  each  sentence. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  upper  part  of  the 
card  is  arranged  as  in  Exercise  7.  In  the  lower  part 
of  the  card  are  printed  several  sentences  involving 
the  use  of  the  words  constructed.  The  words  are 
omitted  from  the  sentences;  the  spaces  where  the 
words  belong  are  filled  with  dots,  a  dot  for  each 
letter,  thus:  — 

I  see  the  *  *  * 

j  %  sjj  :fc  see  the  ^  ^  ^ 

The  *  *  *  uses  the  *  *  * 

He  is  given  an  envelope  which  contains,  on  cut-up 
papers,  all  the  words  needed  to  make  the  sentences 
complete. 

He  writes  his  list  of  words  as  in  Exercise  7.  He 
then  builds  up  the  sentences  found  on  the  lower  half 
of  the  card,  selecting  from  the  list  he  has  made  words 
to  put  in  the  dotted  spaces. 

Exercise  9 

Grade.  —  First  and  second  school  year. 
Aim   and    Value.  —  Drill   on   certain   frequently 
recurring  phonograms. 


96  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  writes 
on  oak  tag  lists  of  words  containing  the  phonic 
elements:  eed,  each,  ight.  The  writing  is  done  so 
that  a  space  separates  the  phonic  elements  from  the 
rest  of  the  word,  thus :  — 

f  eed  t  ight  r  each 

This  is  done  so  that  when  a  sufficient  number  of 
copies  have  been  made  with  the  hektograph,  the  sets 
can  be  cut  up  with  the  phonic  elements  all  on  separate 
slips  of  oak  tag.  The  slips  are  placed  in  envelopes. 

The  child  builds  up  on  his  desk  as  follows :  — 


w  eed 

t  ight 

t  each 

f  eed 

s  ight 

r  each 

n  eed 

f  ight 

b  each 

h  eed 

n  ight 

p  each 

On  paper  he  writes  the  words  he  has  built,  thus 
receiving  an  impression  of  the  appearance  of  each 
word  when  written  as  a  whole. 

Exercise  10 

Grade.  —  First  and  second  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  Drill  on  words  containing  cer- 
tain frequently  recurring  phonograms.  Informal  drill 
in  spelling. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  97 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  On  a  large  sheet  of 
oak  tag,  the  teacher  writes  columns  of  words  con- 
taining the  phonograms:  eep,  ill,  ay,  et.  Several 
copies  are  struck  off  on  the  hektograph,  cut  up  so 
that  each  word  is  on  a  separate  slip,  and  placed  in 
envelopes.  On  the  outside  of  the  envelope  the  teacher 
writes:  eep,  ill,  ay,  et. 

The  child  selects  the  words  from  the  envelope  and 
places  together  on  his  desk  all  words  having  the  same 
phonogram.  His  desk,  when  work  is  completed, 
will  look  somewhat  as  follows :  - 

lay  let  deep  deed  hill 

pay  bet  weep  feed  bill 

stay  set  creep  seed  fill 

may  met  keep  need  rill 

bay  get  peep  weed  mill 

This  exercise  admits  of  infinite  extension. 

Exercise  n 

Grade.  —  First  and  second  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  Drill  in  recognition  of  sounds 
and  of  words  containing  given  sounds.  The  element 
of  play  introduced  by  calling  the  exercise  a  game 
and  comparing  the  chart  to  a  checkerboard  is  very 


98  TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

valuable  to  children  in  special  classes,  who  must 
often  be  deluded  into  doing  mental  labor  requiring 
any  amount  of  concentration. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Divide  a  sheet  of  oak 
tag  or  heavy  paper  into  squares  like  a  checkerboard. 
Cut  out  from  books  pictured  objects  to  represent 
different  sounds  of  a ;  for  example,  a  cake,  a  can,  a 
car,  etc.  All  these  can  be  obtained  from  adver- 
tisement pages.  Paste  each  picture  in  a  square, 
leaving  plenty  of  space  in  the  square  for  the  child's 
work.  Cut  up  printed  slips  on  which  are  words 
containing  the  desired  sounds.  The  children  are  to 
place  each  printed  word  in  the  space  where  the  pic- 
tured object  represents  its  particular  sound  of  a. 
If  desirable  to  aid  the  children  still  further,  print 
beneath  the  picture  its  name,  with  the  correct  dia- 
critical marking  of  the  a ;  as,  CAN,  CAKE. 

Exercise  12 

Grade.  —  Second  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  To  aid  child  in  recognizing 
sounds  of  letters  and  enable  him  to  give  the  letters 
even  when  they  occur  in  hitherto  unfamiliar  com- 
binations. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Give  considerable  pre- 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  99 

vious  teaching  to  make  children  realize  that  add- 
ing an  e  at  the  end  of  a  word  makes  the  letter  in  the 
middle  say  its  own  name;  as,  slid,  slide.  Prepare 
hektographed  copies  of  large  sheets  divided  into  two 
columns,  the  first  column  to  contain  a  list  of  words 
which  will  illustrate  the  point  to  be  drilled.  In  the 
second  column,  the  child  is  to  prove  its  truth  by 
writing  the  word  with  the  e  added.  Thus:  — 
TEACHER'S  WORK  CHILD'S  WORK 

slid  slide 

not  note 

cut  cute 

at  ate 

bit  bite 

mat  mate 

At  the  close  of  the  exercise  require  him  to  pro- 
nounce the  words  in  both  columns. 

Exercise  13 

Grade.  —  Second  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  This  exercise  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  of  all  those  suggested,  and  is  capable 
of  much  imitation  and  amplification.  It  provides 
drill  in  sentence  building,  in  reading,  in  the  recog- 


IOO 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 


nition  of  words  having  a  common  phonic  element, 
and  in  building  words  from  known  phonic  elements. 
Preparation  and  Method.  —  Make  a  drawing  of  a 
fish  on  a  large  card  of  oak  tag.  The  word  fin  is 
printed  above  the  fins  of  the  fish,  and  the  word  fish 
beneath  the  picture.  The  phonic  elements  to  be 
drilled  by  this  exercise  are  found  in  these  two  words. 
In  columns,  below  the  picture  of  the  fish,  are  printed 
several  words  having  the  same  phonic  element, 
thus :  — 


fish 

fin 

gold 

him 

wish 

bin 

told 

swim 

dish 

win 

hold 

The  last  two  are  added  for  review  and  because 
they  are  useful  words  for  the  sentence  building  to 
come  later.  On  the  same  card  are  printed  several 
sentences  about  the  fish,  taken  directly  from  the  class 
reader. 


PLANS  AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  TCI 

Lulu  has  a  pretty  fish. 

It  is  a  goldfish. 

The  fish  has  fins. 

The  fish  can  swim. 

After  several  copies  have  been  struck  off  on  the 
hektograph,  one  card  is  kept  intact  as  a  model  for 
the  child  to  study  and  imitate.  The  others  are  cut 
up  into  separate  slips,  as  follows :  — 

1.  The  drawing  of  the  fish. 

2.  The  words  for  the  phonic  drill,  each  word  sepa- 
rate. 

3.  The  sentences,  each  complete  sentence  being 
on  a  slip  by  itself.     The  teacher  must  be  careful 
not  to  cut  up  the  sentences  into  separate  words. 

The  child  arranges  on  his  desk  a  facsimile  of  the 
card.  To  do  this,  he  must  say  every  word  over  to 
himself  and  must  read  every  sentence. 


CHAPTER   X 

PLANS    AND    TYPES    OF    SEAT    WORK 

Composition,  Language,  Spelling 
Exercise  i 

Grade.  —  Second  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  This  is  the  first  step  in  the  con- 
struction of  sentences  with  composition  as  a  definite 
aim  to  be  accomplished.  The  work  is  done  without 
writing,  with  no  injury  to  penmanship.  In  this  ex- 
ercise, which  is  the  first  step,  the  boy  reconstructs 
sentences  which  have  been  given  him;  his  mind, 
consequently,  is  fixed  on  the  construction,  not  on  the 
thought. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  prepares 
all  the  work  on  a  large  sheet  of  oak  tag  and  cuts  it 
up  after  a  sufficient  number  of  copies  have  been 
struck  off. 

A  card  is  kept  entire.  On  it  the  teacher  places  a 
picture  of  a  horse  and  writes  beneath  the  picture  the 
following  sentences :  — 

See  my  horse. 

It  is  a  large  horse. 

102 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK 

My  horse  has  four  feet. 

Baby  can  drive  him. 

My  horse  wears  four  iron  shoes. 

He  eats  grass,  hay,  and  oats. 

He  will  pull  heavy  loads  for  his  master. 


103 


In  the  envelope  are  placed  slips  bearing   these 
same  words.     The  child  keeps  his  model  card  before 


104  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

him,  searches  in  his  envelope  for  the  requisite  words, 
and  constructs  the  sentences  by  laying  the  slips  beside 
one  another  on  his  desk. 


Exercise  2 

Grade.  —  Second  and  third  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  This  is  the  second  step  in  the 
construction  of  sentences  with  composition  as  a 
definite  end  in  view.  The  child's  thought  is  still 
fixed  on  the  construction  of  the  sentence,  but  he  must 
pay  a  little  closer  attention  to  the  thought,  for  reasons 
which  will  appear  in  the  next  paragraph. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  On  each  side  of  a 
drawing  of  a  sleeping  lion  and  a  mouse,  the  teacher 
writes  words  omitted  from  the  following  sentences. 
The  sentences  are  written  beneath  the  picture  on  the 
same  paper. 

A  mouse  -     -  under  the  paws  of  a  sleeping  -    — . 

The  lion  awoke. 

The  mouse  -     -  for  his  life. 

The  -     -  let  the  little  mouse  go. 

Lion  hunters  -    -  the  lion. 

They  -     -  him  to  a  post. 

The heard  his  roar. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  105 


The  mouse  gnawed  the 
The  lion  got  away. 


*hrf 

CAi-Lt 

td<L 


C*t**Ct^S. 


A  second  copy  of  the  sentences  is  cut  up  and 
placed  in  an  envelope,  together  with  separate  copies 
of  the  words  on  either  side  of  the  picture. 

The  child  decides  what  one  of  the  words  on  either 
side  of  the  picture  should  be  fitted  into  the  blank 
space  in  each  sentence.  On  his  desk  he  constructs 
each  sentence  complete. 


io6  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

Exercise  3 

Grade.  —  Second  and  third  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  Sentence  structure  is  again  the 
aim,  but  this  third  step  necessitates  a  little  closer 
attention  to  what  is  said.  In  addition,  this  exercise 
affords  a  training  in  spelling  and  in  the  use  of  words. 


Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  preparation  of 
the  work  is  identical  with  that  of  Exercise  2,  with 
the  exception  that  instead  of  leaving  blank  spaces 
for  the  omitted  words  in  the  sentences,  the  teacher 
puts  dots,  a  dot  for  each  letter  of  the  word  omitted, 
and  omits  more  than  one  word  in  each  sentence, 
thus : — 


PLANS  AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  107 

Two  goats  met  **&******. 

rhe  4*  *  'fc  *  *  SP  \v£ts  verv  ^  ^*  ^*  *^*  *^* 

Neither  would  give  *  *  *  to  the  *****. 

They  ran  together. 

They  both  *  *  *  *  into  the  *  *  *  *  *. 

They  barely  *****  their  lives. 

The  *****  had  learned  a  ******. 

The  child's  method  of  using  the  work  is  the  same 
as  in  Exercise  2.  These  sentences  are  taken  from 
the  familiar  story  of  the  two  goats  who  met  on  a 
narrow  bridge. 

Exercise  4 

Grade.  -  -  Third  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  This  exercise  gives  us  a  fourth 
step  in  the  teaching  of  sentence  structure. 

Also,  the  child  is  trained  in  observation,  in  answer- 
ing questions,  and  in  writing  description. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  pastes 
on  a  card  a  picture  of  a  boy  on  a  farm,  cut  from  a 
reader.  Beneath  the  picture  are  printed  certain 
words :  farm,  four,  so,  hens,  grandpa.  These  words 
will  be  needed  in  the  construction  of  sentences.  On 
the  back  of  the  same  card,  or  on  another,  the  teacher 
writes  the  following  questions :  - 


io8 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 


Who  has  a  big  farm? 

Whom  do  I  like  to  go  to  see? 

How  many  horses  and  cows  are  there? 

What  do  I  do  on  the  farm? 

What  do  I  do  on  the  horse? 


txirn 
cyrandpa 


It  will  readily  be  seen  that  with  just  the  addition 
of  a  word  or  two,  statements  can  be  made  of  these 
questions  with  but  very  little  change.  All  the 
words  necessary  to  construct  the  statements  are 
written  on  a  large  sheet  of  oak  tag,  cut  up,  and 
placed  in  envelopes  together  with  the  cards.  The 
child  selects  from  his  envelope  the  words  he  needs 
and  builds  up  on  his  desk :  - 

Grandpa  has  a  big  farm. 

I  like  to  go  to  see  grandpa. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  109 

There  are  four  horses  and  two  cows. 
I  feed  the  hens  on  the  farm. 
I  ride  on  the  horse. 

Exercise  5 

Grade.  -  -  Third  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  --The  child  receives  training  in 
sentence  structure,  in  the  formation  of  a  paragraph, 
in  the  writing  of  descriptive  composition. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  pastes  a 
picture  of  a  kite  on  a  card,  or  makes  a  drawing  of 
one.  On  another  card  the  following  questions  are 
written: — 

Of  what  is  your  kite  made  ? 
What  shape  is  the  kite? 
What  colors  are  on  the  kite? 
Is  it  a  large  or  a  small  kite? 
What  do  you  put  at  the  end? 
Of  what  is  the  tail  made? 

On  a  large  sheet  of  oak  tag,  the  teacher  writes 
every  word  that  can  be  needed  to  answer  these  ques- 
tions. When  there  have  been  made  sufficient  copies 
to  fill  as  many  envelopes  as  there  are  boys  to  use  the 
exercise,  all  are  cut  up  so  that  each  word  is  on  a 


no  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

separate  slip.  When  the  child  receives  his  envelope, 
he  takes  out  his  picture  and  examines  it;  he  reads 
his  questions  and  considers  the  answers  in  relation 


to  the  picture ;  he  builds  on  his  desk  with  the  cut-up 
slips  of  words  the  answers  to  these  questions. 

When  he  has  finished,  he  copies  his  sentences  on 
paper,  arranging  them  in  one  paragraph,  thus  gain- 
ing the  idea  of  a  paragraph.  To  do  this,  he  must 
first  receive  a  suggestion  or  two  from  the  teacher. 

Probably  the  best  feature  of  teaching  children  para- 
graph structure  in  this  manner  is  that  all  danger 
of  the  dreadful  "and"  habit  is  entirely  averted. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  in 

Exercise  6 

Grade.  -  -  Third  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  Exercise  5,  except  that  it 
is  narrative  composition,  not  descriptive. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  cuts  from 
a  book  a  picture  of  two  squirrels  sitting  on  the  limb 
of  a  tree  and  pastes  it  on  a  card.  From  the  story  in 
the  book,  she  cuts  out  little  phrases  which  suggest 
the  story,  and  pastes  them  on  either  side  of  the  pic- 
ture They  are  to  be  cut  from  print  to  give  child  exer- 
cise in  reading  book  print.  She  should  choose  such 
phrases  as  will,  when  used  in  the  sentences  of  the 
paragraph,  make  a  continuous  composition.  Be- 
neath the  picture  she  writes,  as  helps  (the  first  step 
towards  teaching  the  use  of  topics),  the  following:  — 

What  Mary  saw. 

What  the  squirrel  did. 

Tell  the  story  of  Mary  and  the  squirrel. 

In  this  exercise,  when  the  child  receives  his  envel- 
ope, he  does  no  building  on  his  desk  with  cut-up 
slips  of  words.  After  he  has  examined  his  picture, 
read  the  various  phrases  pasted  beside  the  picture, 
and  thought  about  what  "Mary  saw"  and  athe 
squirrels  did,"  he  "tells  the  story  of  Mary  and  the 
squirrel  "  in  one  written  paragraph. 


112 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 


/v_y 


She   looked    up    and 
saw 

bough  of  a  tree- 
"  I  like  you,  little  squirrel 
he  leaped  up 
gray  squirrel  sitting 
chip/1  he  called 
He  sat  upright 
acorn  in  his 


Q 


u 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK 


Exercise  7 

Grade.  -  -  Third  and  fourth  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  Exercise  6.  The  step 
in  advance  is  that  the  teacher  gives  fewer  aids,  noth- 
ing, indeed,  outside  of  the  picture  and  a  few  necessary 
words. 


xJfaAA&t 


^Y 

0 


Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  copies 
from  a  book  the  picture  of  the  crow  that  dropped 
pebbles  into  the  water  to  cause  the  water  to  rise 


114  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

higher  and  permit  him  to  drink.     Beneath  the  pic- 
ture the  following  words  are  written :  — 

thirsty  found 

saw  pebbles 

pitcher  dropped 

little  one  by  one 

water  drank 

Of  course  the  reading  and  study  of  the  fable  must 
precede  the  use  of  this  exercise  in  busy  work.  The 
child  is  given  the  card  just  described,  with  instruc- 
tions to  tell  the  story,  using  the  words  suggested. 
When  ready,  he  writes  it  in  one  paragraph. 

Exercise  8 

Grade.  -  -  Third  and  fourth  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  Similar  to  many  of  those  de- 
scribed with  an  additional  step  of  difficulty. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  In  a  conversation  les- 
son, the  story  of  Hiawatha  is  talked  about  and  a 
picture  is  shown  of  Hiawatha  in  his  birch-bark 
canoe.  As  busy  work,  the  teacher  prepares,  in  the 
manner  described  many  times  before,  a  card  on  which 
she  pastes  or  draws  a  picture  of  an  Indian  in  a  canoe. 
The  list  of  words  is  written  beside  the  picture  in  order 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  115 

to  suggest  sentences.  Having  prepared  a  large  num- 
ber of  possible  sentences,  the  teacher  cuts  them  all 
up  into  separate  slips  of  a  word  each,  and  places  all 
the  slips  in  an  envelope.  The  child  uses  the  slips 
to  construct  sentences,  telling  something  suggested 
by  the  picture.  The  additional  step  of  difficulty 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  sentences  must  be  original, 
although  all  the  words  necessary  may  be  found  in 
the  envelopes.  The  following  shows  the  results 
obtained  in  one  instance :  - 

Hiawatha  went  into  the  forest.  He  looked  for  a 
birch  tree.  I  want  a  canoe.  I  will  build  it  of  birch 
bark.  The  bark  is  the  cloak  of  the  birch  tree. 
The  canoe  will  float  upon  the  river. 

Exercise  9 

Grade.  -  -  Third  and  fourth  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  Reproduction,  with  language 
particularly  in  view. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  Tell  a  short  story  to 
the  group.  Read  it  to  them  in  the  same  words  used 
in  telling.  Distribute  envelopes  in  which  are  cut- 
up  slips,  sufficient  to  tell  the  whole  story  in  the  same 
words.  Inclose  a  picture,  if  possible,  as  an  aid  to 
interest  and  memory.  The  children  must  build  up 


n6  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

the  story  on  their  own  desks.     The  short  fables  are 
excellent  for  this  purpose. 

Exercise  10 

Grade.  -  -  Third  and  fourth  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value. — As  in  Exercise  9,  with  an 
additional  step.  The  last  sentence  is  the  child's 
origi  :al  composition,  and  it  requires  him  to  use 
thought  and  imagination. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  As  in  Exercise  9. 
When  the  child  has  finished  reproducing  the  story, 
ask  him  to  tell  in  his  own  words  the  thought  or  teach- 
ing, the  moral,  of  the  story.  This  gives  him  exercise 
in  original  construction  and  teaches  him  to  look  for 
hidden  meaning,  for  purpose,  in  the  words  of  others, 
spoken  or  written.  Your  own  lot,  as  teachers,  may 
be  lightened  somewhat  by  the  laugh  brought  to  your 
lips,  if  you  chance  to  read  as  a  result,  as  we  have, 
that 

The  story  of  the  fox  and  the  crane  shows  that  the 
crane  had  luck  to  have  a  big  neck.  Or,  again, 

The  story  of  the  fox  and  the  grapes  shows  that 
when  you  want  something  awful  bad  is  the  time  you 
ain't  going  to  get  it. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  117 

Exercise  n 

Grade.  —  Second  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  The  child  memorizes  the 
maxim  given  him.  He  has  an  excellent  exercise  in 
sentence  structure,  because  he  is  building  a  model 
sentence,  each  time.  The  ethical  teaching  is  being 
impressed  on  his  mind. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Into  the  cover  of  a 
spool-cotton  box  the  teacher  pastes  a  slip  of  paper, 
on  which  one  of  the  familiar  maxims  has  been  written, 
carefully  and  legibly,  e.g.,  - 

Early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise 

Makes  a  man  healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise. 

On  a  large  sheet  of  oak  tag,  she  writes  this  maxim 
five  or  six  times,  cuts  it  all  up  into  separate  words, 
and  places  the  slips  in  the  box.  On  his  desk  the  child 
must  build  up  the  maxim  five  or  six  times.  After 
correction,  he  writes  it  once  on  paper. 

Exercise  12 

Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year  and  upwards. 
Aim  and  Value.  -  -  This  exercise  teaches  a  child 
how  to  study  a  poem,  to  get  at  the  poet's  thought. 


u8  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

Answering  the  questions  requires  careful  sentence 
structure.  Writing  the  whole  teaches  paragraph 
structure  and  paraphrasing. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  The  teacher  cuts  from 
a  printed  page  two  stanzas  of  Longfellow's  "  Chil- 
dren's Hour"  :  — 

I  hear,  in  a  chamber  above  me, 

The  patter  of  little  feet, 
The  sound  of  a  door  that  is  opened, 

And  voices  soft  and  sweet. 

From  my  study,  I  see  in  the  lamplight, 
Descending  the  broad  hall  stair, 

Grave  Alice,  and  laughing  Allegra, 
And  Edith  with  golden  hair. 

The  clipping  is  pasted  on  a  large  card.  Beneath 
it  are  written,  arranged  in  paragraph  form,  the  fol- 
lowing questions :  - 

What  is  the  first  thing  the  poet  says  ?  Where  does 
he  hear  something?  What  is  the  first  thing  he 
hears?  Of  what  does  he  hear  the  patter?  What 
is  the  second  thing  that  he  hears  ?  Why  did  the  door 
sound?  What  third  thing  does  he  hear?  What 
words  tell  about  the  voices? 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK          119 

From  what  place  does  the  poet  see  something? 
What  helps  him  to  see  it  ?  What  does  he  see  ?  Who 
are  the  three  girls  ?  What  are  they  doing  ? 

What  kind  of  girl  was  Alice?  What  word  de- 
scribes Allegra?  Are  we  told  about  Edith's  appear- 
ance or  character  ?  What  are  we  told  about  her  ? 

The  child  is  directed  to  read  the  stanzas,  to  read 
the  questions  through,  to  study  the  answers,  to  write 
the  answers,  to  arrange  his  answers  in  paragraphs 
to  correspond  with  the  question  paragraphs. 

Exercise  13 

Grade.  -  -  Third  and  fourth  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  --To  teach  correct  form  for  a 
friendly  letter.  To  trouble  the  child  with  difficulties 
of  spelling  and  composition  at  the  same  time  he  is 
trying  to  learn  the  formal  arrangement  of  a  letter  is 
too  much.  Yet  the  importance  of  teaching  the  cor- 
rect arrangement  is  almost  daily  indicated  by  the 
failures  in  this  respect  in  letters  written  by  teachers 
themselves. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  In  lessons  given  pre- 
viously to  the  use  of  the  exercise,  talk  to  the  children 
about  letters  and  letter  forms  and  show  them  good 
models.  Have  letters  written  on  the  blackboard, 


120 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 


teacher  and  children  working  together.  Distribute 
hektograph  copies  of  a  blank  letter  form,  arranged 
like  the  chart  in  the  illustration.  In  envelopes  are 
cut-up  slips  containing  words,  which,  put  in  their 
proper  places  left  blank  on  the  chart,  will  make  the 
letter  given  as  the  child's  work  in  the  illustration. 


As  a  second  step,  give  the  child  the  same  envelope 
of  cut-up  words,  but  no  chart  for  the  form.  This 
will  test  his  knowledge  of  the  form. 

As  a  third  step,  give  him  the  chart  for  the  form, 
but  no  envelope  of  cut-up  words,  and  require  him 
to  write  his  own  letter  on  the  chart.  The  final  step 
is,  of  course,  the  writing  of  a  friendly  letter  with 
neither  chart  nor  words  supplied. 


PLANS  AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK 


121 


Exercise  14 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  the  last,  except  that  it 
applies  to  the  use  of  envelopes. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Prepare  a  chart  on 
which  are  many  addresses,  the  proper  placing  of 


V* 


St. 


Chart. 


St. 


Child's    Work- 

the  parts  transposed  as  much  as  possible.  Give  the 
children  many  papers  cut  the  size  of  envelopes. 
(The  cutting  can  be  done  by  the  children  themselves 
at  some  previous  exercise  in  measuring  and  use  of 


122  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

scissors.)  Each  address  on  the  chart  is  to  be  written 
correctly  on  one  of  the  prepared  papers.  The  exer- 
cise, of  course,  presupposes  much  careful  teaching 
in  the  use  of  envelopes. 

Exercise  15 

Grade.  —  Sixth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  To  teach  business  forms  and 
clearness  of  expression  in  the  language  needed  for 
them.  To  prevent  later  errors  due  to  ignorance  of 
some  of  the  practical,  taken-for-granted  matters  of 
life. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  same  exercise  may 
be  applied  to  the  use  of  money  orders,  checks,  tele- 
grams, mail  orders,  bills,  receipts,  etc. 

Make  hektograph  copies  of  a  money  order.  (Bet- 
ter still,  obtain  a  sufficient  number  of  printed  blanks 
from  a  post  office.)  Tell  the  children  to  fill  them  in. 
At  first  give  them  the  necessary  data  on  cards,  but 
later  require  them  to  supply  everything  themselves. 

Exercise  16 

Grade.  —  Second  school  year. 
Aim  and  Value.  —  Excellent  drill  is  afforded  in 
the  correction  of  errors  in  the  use  of  irregular  verbs. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES    OF   SEAT  WORK  123 

Its  special  value  consists  in  the  fact  that  the  child 
uses  over  and  over  again  the  correct  form,  and  never 
hears  or  sees  the  incorrect  one.  Drill  in  sentence 
structure  is  also  provided  by  this  exercise. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  A  conversation  lesson 
precedes  the  exercise,  during  which  questions  and 
answers  involve  the  use  of  the  words  brought  and 
drove.  The  desired  sentences  are  obtained  and  writ- 
ten on  the  blackboard,  then  read  by  the  children. 
The  teacher  has  prepared,  in  a  manner  similar  to 
that  described  in  previous  exercises,  envelopes  con- 
taining these  sentences,  cut  up  into  separate  words. 
Scholars  build  on  their  desks  as  many  of  these  sen- 
tences as  they  can  remember. 

Exercise  17 

Grade.  -  -  Third  school  year. 

Aim  and  Method.  — As  in  Exercise  16,  with  the 
additional  step  that  in  the  child's  independent  work, 
not  only  drill  with  the  aid  of  the  memory  is  provided, 
but  there  must  be  original  sentences  constructed  in- 
volving the  use  of  the  irregular  verbs. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Many  copies  are 
struck  off  on  the  hektograph  of  a  paper  arranged  as 
follows :  — 


124  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

I  saw  the  boy  run. 

We  saw  him  hide  the  ball. 

She  saw  the  book  on  the  desk. 

I  saw  him  do  it. 

I  saw  him  on  the  street. 

I  saw  the  fish  in  the  water. 

I  saw  him  take  his  paper. 

The  man  saw  a  large  dog. 

The  girl  saw  the  baby  fall. 

What  did  you  see  on  the  street? 

What  did  you  see  in  the  park? 

What  did  you  see  on  my  desk? 

What  did  you  see  the  boy  do? 

What  did  you  see  at  home? 

What  did  you  see  the  hors*e  do? 

What  did  you  see  baby  do? 

What  did  you  see  mother  do? 

The  use  of  the  exercise  as  busy  work  is  preceded 
by  a  lesson,  during  which  the  teacher  keeps  a  rapid 
fire  of  questions  on  the  sentences  above  the  line, 
somewhat  like  these:  i.  Who  is  talking?  (I.) 
Whom  are  you  talking  about?  (The  boy.)  What 
did  he  do?  (Run.)  How  do  you  know?  (I  saw.) 
2.  Who  is  talking?  (We.)  Whom  are  you  talking 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  125 

about?  (The  boy.)  What  did  he  do?  (Hide  the 
ball.)  How  do  you  know?  (We  saw.)  Similar 
questions  are  to  be  asked  and  answered  of  all  the 
other  sentences. 

After  this  development  work  has  been  completed, 
the  group  return  to  their  seats,  with  instructions  to 
write  their  answers  to  the  questions  below  the  line, 
using  the  sentences  above  the  line  as  models. 

Exercise  18 

Grade.  -  -  Third  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  — As  in  Exercise  16  and  17. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  A  number  of  hekto- 
graphed  copies  of  the  following  paper  are  pre- 
pared :  — 

go  —  goes;  come  —  came;  do  —  did  — does  —  done. 

Baby to  meet  mother. 

She to  see  us. 

—  you  do  your  work  ? 

I  have all  my  work. 

He his  work  well. 

She to  see  her  aunt. 

Will  you to  see  me? 

Willie yesterday. 


126  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

Where  did  you  go? 
When  did  you  come? 
What  did  you  do? 
When  will  you  come? 
When  will  he  go  ? 

After  a  group  of  children  have  been  provided  with 
this  paper,  a  preliminary  conversation  lesson  drives 
the  points  home.  The  children  then  supply  the  miss- 
ing word  in  each  sentence  above  the  line.  Then 
they  write  answers  to  each  of  the  questions  below 
the  line,  these  questions  being  phrased  so  that  they 
require  the  correct  use  of  the  frequently  misused 
parts  of  the  verbs  noted  at  the  top  of  the  paper. 
These  verbs  are  placed  at  the  top  to  aid  the  child 
in  giving  the  correct  form. 

Exercise  19 

Grade.  -  -  Third  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  This  exercise  has  the  same 
aims,  being  really  just  a  slightly  more  difficult  form 
of  the  same  kind  of  drill. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  sentences  above 
the  line  in  the  card  given  below,  in  connection  with 


PLANS  AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  127 

the  word  "  To-day,"  form  the  subject-matter  for  a 
lesson  given  the  group  by  the  teacher. 

TO-DAY 

I  come  to  school. 
I  look  at  the  board. 
I  read  my  lessons. 
I  study  my  lesson. 
I  learn  my  lesson. 
I  write  my  lesson. 

YESTERDAY 

The  child  is  then  asked  how  he  would  say  each  of 
these  sentences  if  the  thing  told  happened  "  Yester- 
day." At  the  end  of  the  lesson  he  is  given  the  card 
and  an  envelope  in  which  are  the  cut -up  sentences 
giving  the  form  to  use  for  "  Yesterday."  On  his 
desk  he  builds  the  sentences,  and  after  correction  by 
the  teacher,  copies  them  on  the  card,  in  a  space  left 
for  the  purpose,  below  the  word  "  Yesterday." 

Exercise  20 

Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year. 
Aim  and  Value.  —  "In  teaching  pupils  to  construct 
typical  forms  of  statements,  the  teacher  should  have 


128  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO    STUDY 

in  mind  such  a  classification  as  will  insure  the  ex- 
pression of  all  the  more  important  forms  of  thought, 
e.g.,  sentences  that  state  (i)  what  things  do,  (2)  what 
is  done  to  things,  (3)  what  the  qualities  of  things  are, 
(4)  what  things  are."  1  This  exercise  provides  drill 
in  the  first  form,  but  a  similar  exercise  can  be  planned 
to  provide  drill  in  each  of  the  four  forms. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Hektographed  sheets 
are  prepared  and  then  cut  up  and  arranged  in  sets 
in  envelopes.  Each  set  will  contain  a  card,  read- 
ing:— 

WHAT   THINGS   CAN   DO 

1.  horse  6.  cat 

2.  dog  7.  rivers 

3.  squirrel  8.  wind 

4.  baby  9.  bees 

5.  lion  10.  children 

Besides  the  card,  each  set  contains  sentences,  cut 
up  into  separate  words,  telling  what  these  things  can 
do.  The  child  builds  the  sentences  on  his  desk, 
thus : - 

1  Taken  from  Course  of  Study  in  English,  Grade  4  A,  New  York 
City. 


PLANS  AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  129 

The  horse  runs. 
The  horse  gallops. 
The  horse  trots. 
The  horse  neighs. 

Exercise  21 

Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  It  teaches  meaning  and  use  of 
certain  words.  It  teaches  who  does  things. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  The  teacher  cuts  from 
the  printed  book,  or  makes  hektographed  copies  of, 
the  following  card :  — 

A cures  diseases. 

A  -  —  tends  sheep. 

A  -  —  builds  houses. 

A  -     -  makes  boots  and  shoes. 

A  -     -  makes  men's  clothing. 

A  -     -  makes  barrels. 

A cultivates  land. 

A plans  houses. 

A  -     -  makes  beautiful  pictures. 
A writes  books. 

The  missing  names :  doctor,  shepherd,  shoemaker, 
tailor,  cooper,  architect,  etc.,  are  written  in  the  sen- 


130  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

tences  prepared  on  separate  hektographed  sheets. 
These  sentences  are  cut  up  and  the  slips  are  placed 
in  envelopes.  On  his  desk  the  boy  must  build  each 
sentence,  inserting  the  necessary  name. 

Exercise  22 

Grade.  —  Any  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value. — An  excellent  drill  in  spelling 
is  provided  by  this  exercise.  Being  somewhat  in 
the  nature  of  a  game,  the  children's  interest  in  it  is 
very  keen. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  children  are  pro- 
vided either  with  a  box  of  letters,  such  as  can  be 
bought  in  any  game  department  in  the  stores,  or  with 
an  envelope  containing  slips  cut  from  hektographed 
sheets  in  which  the  alphabet  has  been  written  many 
times.  They  are  then  told  to  build  up  on  their  desks 
as  many  words  as  they  can,  using  only  letters  found 
in  a  given  word.  Some  good  words  for  the  purpose 
are  carpet,  composition,  everybody,  operations,  sepa- 
ration; others  will  suggest  themselves. 

An  added  element  of  interest  can  be  given  by  ex- 
citing competition  among  the  members  of  the  group 
at  work. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  131 

Exercise  23 

Grade.  —  Second  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  A  drill  in  spelling  is  the  aim 
here.  The  value  of  the  exercise  lies  in  the  fact  that 
he  must  say  to  himself  every  letter  in  every  word,  and 
at  the  same  time  he  sees  each  one  and  also  the  whole 
word.  Also  he  receives  the  benefit  that  comes  from 
repetition,  but  does  no  writing,  and  escapes  the  per- 
nicious effect  upon  his  penmanship  of  writing  a 
word  many  times  in  order  to  learn  it. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Somewhere  in  the 
room  the  teacher  keeps  hung  up  a  list  of  the  spelling 
words  for  the  week,  as  well  as  other  charts  of  words 
previously  taught.  The  child  is  provided  with  a  box 
of  letters  or  an  envelope  of  letters  made  as  described 
in  Exercise  22.  On  his  desk  he  builds  the  words  of 
his  spelling  lesson,  looking  at  the  chart  to  get  the 
correct  spelling.  Some  words  he  will  construct 
several  times,  others  only  once. 

Exercise  24 

Grade.  —  Second  school  year  and  upwards. 
Aim  and  Value.  —  Drill  in  spelling  and  in  recog- 
nition of  the  new  words  of  a  reading  lesson. 


132  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Make  hektographed 
copies  of  sentences  from  the  day's  reading  lesson, 
omitting  the  words  you  desire  to  have  the  child  notice 
particularly.  Let  the  children  use  their  readers  to 
find  the  sentences,  discover  the  omitted  word,  and 
then  write  it  in  its  place  on  the  hektographed  sheet. 

Exercise  25 

Aim  and  Value.  —  In  the  early  grades,  this  exer- 
cise can  be  used  as  a  phonic  drill.  In  later  grades, 
it  can  be  used  as  a  drill  in  suffixes. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  words  are  written 
on  a  large  sheet  of  oak  tag,  the  suffix  being  detached 
from  the  rest  of  the  word  so  that  the  separation  can 
be  made  easily  when  the  teacher  is  ready  to  cut  up 
the  paper  into  separate  slips.  The  slips  are  placed 
in  envelopes. 

The  child  selects  the  slips  needed  and  combines  so 
as  to  form  words,  arranging  them  on  his  desk,  thus  :— 
beauti     ful  use        less  hard      ness 

use         ful  piti        less  soft        ness 

grace      ful  merci    less  quick     ness 

This  exercise,  too,  can  be  extended  indefinitely 
and  made  to  cover  all  the  suffixes  and  prefixes. 
Too  many  should  never  be  placed  in  one  envelope. 


CHAPTER    XI 

PLANS  AND  TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK 

Arithmetic 

NOTE. — Very  little  attempt  has  been  made  to 
grade  these  exercises  in  arithmetic.  Each  is  a  type, 
possibly  described  in  its  application  to  the  work 
in  one  grade,  but  equally  adaptable  to  the  work  of 
another. 

Exercise  i 

Grade.  —  Second  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  Excellent  drill  is  provided  in 
telling  time. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  The  teacher  writes  the 
first  paper,  strikes  off  desired  number  of  copies  on 
oak  tag  cards,  cuts  up  into  separate  slips,  and  places 
in  sets  in  envelopes.  Each  set  will  contain  several 
clock  faces,  without  hands,  and  a  number  of  slips 
on  which  are  written :  - 

1 .  Show  how  the  clock  looked  when  you  went  to 
bed. 

2.  Show  how  the  clock  looked  when  you  came  to 
school. 

133 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 


3.  Show  how  the  clock  looked  when  the  bell  rang. 

4.  Show  how  the  clock  looked  when  you  went  to 
assembly. 

5.  I  started  to   school   at    20 
minutes    of    8;    show    how   the 
clock  looked. 

6.  The    train    started    at    15 
minutes  after  8;   show  how  the 
clock  looked. 

The  child  places  a  question  slip  on  his  desk ;  beside 
it,  a  clock  face,  on  which  he  has  drawn  hands  placed 
so  as  to  indicate  the  time  needed  to  answer  the  ques- 
tion. 

Exercise  2 

Grade.  —  Second  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  Drill  in  addition,  subtraction, 
or  multiplication,  and  in  accuracy. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  prepares 
large  sheets  of  oak  tag,  hektographed  copies,  and  cuts 
up  into  cards.  On  the  cards  are  written  numbers; 
for  example :  - 

Card  i  Card  2  Card  3  Card  4 

4  5  I2  J4 

4556 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  135 

Card  5  Card  6  Card  7  Card  8 

5  X3  8  14 

3454 

The  teacher  tells  the  boy  what  the  operation  is  to  be. 

Only  one  operation  should  be  used ;  that  is,  the  work 

should  be  addition  with  all  the  cards,  and  not  addition 

with  some  and  subtraction  with  others.     On  a  sheet 

of  paper  the  boy  copies  all  the  cards  and  writes  the 

answers. 

Exercise  3 

Grade.  —  Second  year  and  upward. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  This  is  an  exercise  which  can 
be  used  to  drill  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication, 
or  division. 

Preparation  and  Method. --With  the  aid  of  the 
hektograph,  the  teacher  prepares  a  number  of  cards 
on  which  are  written  sets  of  questions ;  for  example : 

Card  i 
4X4  =  * 
4X5  =* 
6X4  =  * 
3X8=*  The  product  only  omitted. 

7X3=* 
5X3=* 
5X4  =  * 


136  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO    STUDY 

Card  2 
4  X  *  =  24 
6X3=*  The  product,  multiplier,  or  mul- 

*  X  4  =  20  tiplicand  omitted. 

*  X  5  =  i5 

8  X  *  =  32 

The  child  copies  the  numbers  from  the  card  and 
inserts,  in  each  example,  the  missing  quantity.  He 
is  not  allowed  to  write  on  the  card,  for  that  would 
destroy  any  possibility  of  its  further  use.  The  dot 
is  used  to  indicate  the  missing  quantity,  because 
experience  shows  that  the  question  mark  either 
suggests  a  number  or  is  mistaken  for  one. 

Exercise  4 

Grade.  -  -  Third  year  and  upwards. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  makes 
hektographed  copies  of  large  cards,  like  the  follow- 
ing:— 

Card  i 

6X8=  4X9=  36-4=  4  X  *  =  36 
6X7=  9X5=  32-8=  6  X  *  =  3° 
4X9=  8X4=  48  -^  6  =  *  X  8  =  4& 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK 


9X5  = 

7X5  = 

45  -  5  =       *  X  5  =  40 

6X6  = 

6X9  = 

30  -  6  =       6  X  *  =  42 

6X4  = 

7X8  = 

42-6=       7x*  =  35 

5X6  = 

8X6  = 

44-4=       *X9  =  36 

8X3  = 

3X9  = 

56-8=       8  X  *  =  32 

3X9  = 

4X8  = 

54-6=       7X4=? 

7X6  = 

7X5  = 

27-9=       9  X  *  =  54 

6  X  10  = 

6X6  = 

36-9=       8  X  *  =  48 

J  Of   20  = 

4 

40         3 

36         6 

36 

%  of  18  = 

4 

24     '  3 

39         4 

16 

i  of  24  = 

8 

32             2 

40         4 

48 

i  of  36  - 

6 

36         6 

48         4 

42 

i  of  30  = 

5 

30        7 

42         6 

42 

i  of  36  = 

6 

54        5 

5°        4 

28 

J  Of   21    = 

3 

33         4 

36        3 

21 

i  of  42  = 

5 

25         3 

27         8 

32 

i  of  48  = 

6 

36         9 

36        5 

45 

2 

48        9 

54        6 

42 

Card  2 

4X4=         7X4=          10X4=  9  X  *  =  36 

4X5=         5X4=          11X4=  8X*  =  32 

6X4=         8X4=           2X4=  7X*  =  28 

3X4=         9X4=           0X4=  6  X  *  =  24 


138  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

Add:- 

147  28  106  322  322 


125 

164 

127 

145 

64 

62 

38 

33 

66 

125 

107 

152 

142 

147 

43 

53 

63 

69 

17 

128 

64 

682 

540 

743 

809 

60  1 

-239 

-287 

-268 

-57i 

-284 

i  apple  cost  4  c.     What  will  6  apples  cost? 
i  pencil  cost  5  c.     What  will  4  cost  ? 
i  bottle  of  milk  cost  8  c.     What  will  4  cost? 
i  loaf  of  bread  cost  10  c.     What  will  3  cost? 
i  bag  of  tea  cost  20  c.     What  will  4  cost  ? 

She  gives  one  of  these  cards  to  a  child  and  tells 
him  to  do  as  many  as  he  can  in  a  stated  time,  which 
time  should  be  much  too  short  for  him  to  be  able  to 
finish  all;  or  she  tells  him,  "Do  the  examples  in  the 
first  column,  or  the  top  line,  to-day,  and  to-morrow 
you  may  do  the  rest."  Left  alone,  almost  every  child 
will  try  to  do  to-morrow's  work,  especially  if  the 
teacher  has  managed  rightly,  and  he  is  thereby  led 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK          139 

to  seek  speed.     Careful  oversight  by  the  teacher  will 
compel  him  to  be  accurate  as  well. 

Exercise  5 

Grade.  -  -  Third  year. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Cards  like  the  follow- 
ing are  struck  off  on  the  hektograph  and  used  in 
the  same  manner  as  described  in  the  last  exercise. 
This  exercise  is  intended  for  use  among  children  who 
can  read,  but  for  whom  the  language  in  most  arith- 
metics is  too  difficult :  — 


224 

36 

89 

57 

75 

90 

X4 

X4 

X4 

X3 

X4 

X4 

605 

921 

821 

752 

900 

—  164 

-455 

-643 

-487 

-320 

1.  John  paid  12  c.  for  a  bag  of  cakes.     What  will 
4  bags  cost  him  ? 

2.  Mary  spelled  20  words  in  i  day.     How  many 
will  she  spell  in  4  days  ? 

3.  Mother  had  28  c.  in  her  hand,  and  4  times  as 
much  in  her  pocketbook.     How  much  did  she  have 
in  her  pocketbook  ? 


140  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

4.  In  one  glass  I  have  16  flowers.     In  another  I 
have  4  times  as  many.     How  many  in  the  second 
glass  ? 

5.  Paid  19  c.  for  i  yard  of  ribbon.     How  much 
will  4  yards  cost? 

6.  One  boy  has  18  marbles.     Willie  has  3  times 
as  many.     How  many  marbles  has  Willie  ? 

Exercise  6 

Grade.  -  -  Third  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  In  our  effort  that  the  child 
shall  understand  each  step  he  takes,  each  point  he 
learns,  we  often  neglect  the  old-fashioned  drill  in 
tables,  which  is,  after  all,  the  only  way  to  make  him 
remember  what  he  understands.  This  exercise  pro- 
vides just  such  a  drill,  with  two  great  values  in  its 
method :  there  is  no  writing  required,  and  the  child 
must  say  each  line  of  the  table  in  order  to  obtain 
the  right  arrangement. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Prepared  first  on 
large  hektographed  sheets  and  then  cut  up  into  slips, 
in  the  manner  already  frequently  described,  cards 
like  the  following  are  placed  in  envelopes :  - 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK  141 


i  X4 

2X4 

3X4 

4X4 

5X4 

6X4 

7  X4 

8X4 

9  X4 

10  X  4 

ii  X  4 

12  X  4 

4-4 

8^-4 

12   -T-  4 

16-7-4 

20  -T-  4 

24  -T-  4 

28  4-  4 

32-4 

36  •*-  4 

40-7-4 

44  -T-  4 

48-2-4 

=    4 

=    8 

=  12 

=  16 

=  20 

=  24 

=  28 

=  32 

=  36 

=  40 

=  44 

=  48 

=    i 

=      2 

=    3 

=    4 

=    5 

=    6 

=    7 

=    8 

=    9 

=   10 

=  ii 

=  12 

These  48  slips  become  well  shuffled  in  the  envelope 
and  the  child  must  do  careful  work  to  build  up  his 
tables  of  4's  in  multiplication  and  in  division  on  his 

desk. 

Exercise  7 

Grade.  -  -  Third  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  Exercise  6,  with  the  addi- 
tional step  of  fractional  parts  included. 


142  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  prepares 
the  same  48  slips  and  also  24  more  to  give  the  drill 
in  the  fractional  parts,  as:  — 

i  of  16  J  of  8 

J  of  20  =4 

=  2  =5 

Exercise  8 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  As  in  Exercises  6  and 
7,  with  one  step  in  advance  in  difficulty,  consisting 
in  the  separation  of  each  line  of  the  table  into  three 
parts,  instead  of  two.  Thus:- 

4X4  =  1 6,  the  finished  line,  would  be  cut  up  into 

4 

X4 
=  16 

The  envelope  would,  therefore,  contain  108  slips, 
36  each,  for  the  multiplication,  the  division,  and  the 
fractional  parts. 

Exercise  9 

Grade.  -  -  Third  year  and  upwards. 
Preparation   and  Method.  —  Large   charts,    with 
numbers  so  large  that  they  can  be  seen  from  all  parts 


PLANS   AND    TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK 


of  the  room,  are  hung  up.     They  are  arranged  as 


follows :  - 
61 

4 
3 

2 

5 
8 

9 
i 


X4 


X5 


16 

24 

20 

8 

32 
40 

36 


-M 


Envelopes  are  prepared  so  that  they  contain  all 
the  numbers  necessary.  The  slips  are  cut  up  in  a 
manner  similar  to  that  described  in  Exercise  8. 

6 

X4 
=  24 

The  boy  builds  up  on  his  desk  the  answers  to  the 
questions  indicated  by  the  chart,  thus:  — 

6                  X  4  =24 

4  X  4  =  J6 
3                   X4  =12 
2                  X  4  =    8 

5  X  4  =20 


144 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 


X4 
X4 
X4 


=  32 
=  36 

=    4 


Exercise  10 

Grade.  -  -  Third  year  and  upwards. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  same  as  in  the 

7,      *• 


last  exercise,  except  that  each  chart  is,  for  the  sake 
of  attracting  attention,  arranged  differently. 

The  words  divide  or  multiply  are  written  at  the 
top  of  the  chart. 

Exercise  n 

Grade.  -  -  Third  year  and  upwards. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  On  large  cards,  the 
teacher  makes  hektographed  copies  of  the  follow- 
ing:- 


10 

6 

5 

4 

8 

3 

2 

7 

9 

ii 

12 

X6 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK 


145 


Each  child  receives  one  of  these  cards  and  an  en- 
velope containing  cut-up  slips,  with  which  he  may, 
as  in  Exercise  9,  build  up  the  answers  to  the  ques- 
tions indicated. 

Exercise  12 

Grade.  -  -  Third  year  and  upwards. 
Preparation   and   Method.  -  -  The    child    receives 
a  card  arranged  as  follows :  — 

In  2  rows  there  are  6  +  6  or  -  — D  s. 
3  rows  contain  -     -  D  s. 

3X6  = .     £  of  18  = . 

6,  6,  6,  and  6  are . 

4X6  = . 


rows. 


24  D  s  = 

%  of  24  is 

6's  in  30 

lof  30  =  - 

How  many  6's  in  36  ? 

30  =  6  X          •  X 

42  -h  7  =  -  . 


30  -T-  6  = 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

2 

12 

3 

18 

4 

24 

5 

3° 

6 

12 

18 

24 

30 

36 

7 

B 

— 



— 



42 
18 

9 









54 

10 

60 

of  36  =  - 
=  4"* 


i    of    48=- 
= X6. 


10X6  = 


-.     9X6  =  48  +  6    or 

-  is  J  of  54- 
lof  6o  =  — . 


54 


The  arrangement  of  squares  and  numbers  was 


146  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

suggested  by  some  work  described  in  Southworth's 
"  Essentials  of  Arithmetic." 

The  children  are  required  to  write  their  answer 
to  each  question  in  the  space  left  for  that  purpose. 

Exercise  13 

Grade.  -  -  Third  year  and  upwards. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  To  the  children  are 
given  cards  on  which  are  lists  of  pages  and  the  num- 
bers of  examples.  They  are  told  to  find  the  given 
examples  in  the  arithmetic  text-book  provided  and 
work  them  on  paper. 

Later,  they  are  told  the  kind  of  work,  and  then 
are  directed  to  find  all  the  examples  illustrating 
that  point  and  work  them.  Excellent  drill  in  the 
use  of  the  text-book  and  an  opportunity  to  make 
sure  that  they  understand  what  has  been  taught 
are  thus  afforded.  To  illustrate:  The  lesson  has 
been  on  the  multiplication  of  decimals  by  a  decimal ; 
the  boy  is  told  to  find  the  place  in  his  text-book 
where  that  point  is  illustrated  and  to  work  the 
examples  given. 


CHAPTER  XII 

PLANS  AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK 

History 

Exercise  i 

Grade.  —  Fifth  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  The  course  of  study  calls  for 
the  memorizing  of  certain  dates  in  each  grade  from 
5  A  up.  A  frequent  use  of  this  exercise  as  busy 
work  will  accomplish  this  without  much  painful 
effort  for  either  teacher  or  child. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  On  a  large  sheet  of 
oak  tag,  the  teacher  writes  in  sentence  form  all  the 
dates  and  the  events  connected  with  them.  These 
sentences  are  then  cut  up,  so  that  the  events  are  on 
slips  separate  from  the  dates ;  to  illustrate :  — 

On  one  slip, 
Columbus  discovered  America; 

On  another  slip, 
October  12,  1492. 

The  child  must  match  event  and  date  and  place 

147 


148  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

in  complete  sentence  form  on  his  desk.  In  one  en- 
velope can  be  placed  all  the  dates  required  for  one 
grade.  For  a  child  in  5  A  you  will  have  the  follow- 
ing set  of  slips  in  one  envelope :  — 

Columbus  discovered  America. 

John  Cabot  discovered  the  continent  of  North 
America. 

Balboa  discovered  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Magellan  entered  and  named  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Magellan  ended  his  first  voyage  around  the  world. 

Cartier  discovered  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 

Hudson  discovered  the  Hudson  River. 
October  12,  1492  In  1523 

In  1497  In  J534 

In  1513  In  1609 

In  1520 

Exercise  2 

Grade.  —  Fifth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  Exercise  i,  with  the  added 
value  of  the  training  a  child  receives  in  the  use  of  a 
text-book.  It  need  not  be  restricted  to  the  required 
dati 

/'  paration  and  Method. --The  child  receives 
a  card  containing  a  list  of  dates,  e.g., — 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK          149 

December  21,  1620. 

July  4,  1776. 

April  30,  1789. 

Using  his  history  text-book,  he  searches  out  what 
happened  on  these  dates  and  writes  it  in  sentence 
form  for  each. 

Exercise  3 

Grade.  —  Fifth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  --  The  historical  facts.  The  child 
uses  the  text-book  as  a  book  of  reference. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  The  teacher  prepares 
a  card,  on  which  are  written  topics  or  other  words 
suggestive  of  the  facts  in  the  life  of  some  historical 
character;  for  example :  — 

HENRY   HUDSON 

Who?  Vessel. 

Relations  with  the  Dutch.  Landing. 

When?  The  Indians. 

Voyage.  Trading,  etc. 

Using  their  text-books  to  find  the  facts,  the  children 
study.  If  they  cannot  be  trusted  to  do  real  study, 
then  they  can  be  required  to  write  each  fact  in  sen- 
tence form  on  paper. 


TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 


Exercise  4 

Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year  and  upwards. 
Aim  and  Value.  -  -  The  historical  facts  are  learned 
in  connection  with  their  geographical  setting,  mak- 
ing  a   natural   and   un- 
forced correlation.     The 
child   learns  to  use  two 
text-books   at    once    for 
reference. 

Preparation  and 
Method.  -  -  Teacher  pre- 
pares outline  maps  of 
North  America,  hekto- 
graphed  on  oak  tag  cards. 
On  other  cards,  or  on 
the  backs  of  the  maps, 
are  written  lists  of  dis- 
coverers and  explorers.  Children  must  find,  in  the 
histories,  the  places  and  dates  associated  with  each 
name.  In  their  geographies  they  must  find  the  lo- 
cation of  each  place  named.  Of  course,  they  will 
remember  many  from  the  lesson  the  group  receives 
from  the  teacher  before  the  busy  work  is  assigned ; 
but  the  use  of  the  books  serves  a  threefold  purpose : 


PLANS  AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK  151 

it  prevents  unlawful  copying,  teaches  them  how  to 
use  the  book,  and  impresses  the  facts  upon  them 
through  still  another  agency.  As  each  place  is  found 
in  the  geographies,  its  location  is  noted  on  the  oak 
tag  maps  and  the  historical  fact  written  next  it. 

Exercise  5 

Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  preceding  exercises. 
The  children's  love  of  pictures  adds  to  the  interest, 
and  therefore  still  further  aids  in  their  memorizing 
the  facts. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  By  cutting  up  old 
histories,  magazines,  circulars  from  publishing  houses, 
etc.,  the  teacher  procures  a  number  of  pictures  to 
illustrate  historical  events.  Each  of  these  she  pastes 
on  a  separate  card.  If  a  printed  sentence  occurs 
beneath  the  picture,  so  much  the  better.  The 
children  receive  these  cards  one  or  two  at  a  time, 
depending  upon  the  length  of  the  period,  and  search 
in  their  histories  for  all  the  facts  associated  with 
each  picture.  When  found,  these  facts  are  arranged 
in  tabular  form  or  embodied  in  a  composition,  ac- 
cording to  the  grade  and  ability  of  the  child.  Some 


152  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

of  the  pictures  which  have  most  successfully  used 
in  P.  S.  120  include  :- 

1.  The   Mrs.   Ross   House,   with   name   printed 
below,  and  the  words,  Flag  Day,  above. 

2.  The  First  Thanksgiving  Day,  with  no  name 
given,  but  the  following  sentences  printed   below: 
"One  day  they  said:    God  has  been  good  to  us. 
Let  us  set  one  day  apart  and  have  a  big  Thanks- 
giving feast." 

3.  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  with  just  the  name 
given. 

4.  A  moccasin,  a  tomahawk,  and  arrows,  pasted 
on  one  card. 

Exercise  6 

Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  preceding  exercises.  In 
addition  to  the  historical  facts,  the  child  is  learning 
local  geography. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Pictures  of  monu- 
ments and  statues  to  be  found  in  New  York,  pro- 
cured in  manner  described  in  Exercise  5,  are  pasted 
on  cards  and  placed  in  envelopes.  The  child  must 
discover  for  each,  one  historical  fact  which  will 
indicate  the  reason  for  the  erection  of  the  monument 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK          153 

or  statue.     The  facts  are  memorized  or  written,  as 
time  and  the  occasion  demand. 


Exercise  7 

Grade.  —  Fifth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  '- —  As  in  preceding  exercises. 
It  aids  in  teaching  paragraphing. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Procuring  them  as 
previously  suggested,  the  teacher  pastes  on  separate 
cards  sets  of  pictures  suggesting  events  in  the  life 
of  a  president,  a  general,  or  some  other  great  man  in 
American  history.  We  have  one  set  for  General 
Grant,  consisting  of  a  picture  of  his  birthplace,  one 
called  "  General  Grant  hammering  away  at  Vicks- 
burg, "  one  of  Grant  and  Lee  at  Appomattox,  and 
one  of  his  tomb  in  Riverside  Park.  These  are  kept 
in  an  envelope  labeled  "  Grant."  The  child  arranges 
the  four  pictures  in  chronological  order ;  the  absurd 
mistakes  some  children  make  in  doing  this  show  the 
value  of  the  exercise.  When  the  teacher  has  cor- 
rected his  arrangement,  he  writes  the  story  of  those 
portions  of  Grant's  life  suggested  by  the  four  pictures, 
and  discovers  that  since  he  has  four  topics,  therefore 
he  must  have  four  paragraphs. 


154  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

Exercise  8 

Grade.  —  Fifth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  preceding  exercises. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  In  envelopes,  labeled 
"Inventors,"  " Discoverers,"  " Generals,"  etc.,  the 
teacher  keeps  a  number  of  slips,  each  bearing  the 
name  of  an  inventor,  a  discoverer,  a  general.  The 
child  is  given,  say,  the  envelope  labeled  "Inventors." 
He  takes  out  each  slip  and  discovers,  either  from 
his  text-book  or  from  memory  of  lessons  given  by 
his  teacher,  the  invention  made  and  the  date.  He 
then  arranges  his  slips  in  chronological  order  and 
places  beside  each  a  slip  on  which  he  has  written 
the  required  facts;  or  he  may  write  both  names 
and  facts  on  a  paper  provided  him,  only,  in  the  latter 
case,  the  sentence  form  of  statement  should  be  in- 
sisted on.  At  the  end  of  the  exercise,  his  desk  would 
look  somewhat  as  follows:  — 

Eli  Whitney:  1793,  the  cotton  gin. 

Robert  Fulton:  1807,  the  steamboat. 

McCormick:  1831,  the  reaper. 

S.  F.  B.  Morse:          1837,  the  telegraph. 
J.  W.  Draper:  1840,  the     daguerreotype,     to 

photograph  persons. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES    OF   SEAT   WORK          155 

Elias  Howe:  1846,  the  sewing  machine. 

Dr.  Morton :  1846,  ether  as  an  anaesthetic. 

John  Ericsson:  the  screw  propeller. 

John  Ericsson :  the  turret  ship,  Monitor. 

1873,  the  typewriter. 
Alex.  Graham  Bell:    1877,  tne  electric  telephone. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PLANS  AND  TYPES  OF  BUSY  WORK 

Geography 

Exercise  i 

Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  The  manual  training  involved 
in  the  pasting.  The  use  of  the  text  book.  Interest 
and  association  of  ideas  as  aids  in  memorizing  facts. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Provide  the  child  with 
a  large  sheet  of  oak  tag  and  pictures  of  the  flags  of 
several  different  countries.  Tell  him  to  divide  his 
oak  tag  sheet  into  as  many  spaces  as  he  has  flags, 
and  to  paste  a  flag  at  the  top  of  each  space.  He  is 
then  to  open  his  geography  and  find  the  country 
to  which  each  flag  belongs,  or  the  teacher  supplies 
this  information.  On  the  sheet  of  oak  tag  he  is  to 
write  the  capital  of  each  country  under  its  flag; 
beneath  that,  the  name  of  one  thing  exported  or  im- 
ported ;  on  a  third  line,  some  one  noteworthy  fact 
discovered  about  the  country  or  its  capital. 

Place  together  the  flags  of  countries  which  are 

156 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF  BUSY  WORK  157 

not  geographically  near  one  another,  thus  forcing  the 
child  to  turn  pages.  The  value  in  this  is  obvious; 
it  makes  him  familiar  with  the  book,  tempts  him  to 
read,  and  teaches  him  to  gain  knowledge  from  a 
printed  page  for  himself.  The  flags  will  hold  the 
interest ;  for  boys,  in  particular,  love  flags  and  always 
want  to  know  their  significance. 

Exercise  2 

Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  Drill  in  use  of  a  map.  Famil- 
iarity with  the  names  and  location  of  the  places  found. 
Memory  is  aided  by  the  tracing  over  of  each  river, 
etc.,  on  his  hektographed  map.  Knowledge  of  these 
very  necessary  facts  is  obtained  in  a  natural  way 
by  himself,  not  by  rote  work. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Make  hektograph 
copies  of  a  map,  of  North  America,  for  example,  of 
the  same  size  and  general  appearance  as  the  physical 
map  of  North  America,  to  be  found  in  the  child's 
text-book.  Let  the  child  trace  over  on  his  map  the 
rivers,  mountains,  lakes,  surrounding  waters;  learn 
their  names  by  reference  to  his  text-book;  and 
finally  write  the  name  of  each  in  its  proper  place. 


158  TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

Exercise  3 

Grade.  —  Fifth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value. — As  in  Exercise  2,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  one  step  more  of  difficulty. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  A  map  similar  to  the 
one  used  in  Exercise  2  is  given  to  the  child,  differing 
in  that  only  the  outline  is  drawn.  Instead  of  merely 
tracing  the  course  of  a  river,  etc.,  he  must  draw  it  in 
its  proper  place  and  then  insert  the  name. 

Exercise  4 


Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year  and  upwards. 
This  exercise  really  makes  use  of  the  idea  of  the 
dissected  map  puzzles. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   BUSY  WORK          159 

Aim  and  Value.  —  Familiarity  with  names  and 
location  of  places.  Knowledge  of  the  relation  one 
place  bears  to  another  in  size,  direction,  distance. 
Some  other  values,  as  in  Exercise  2.  Particularly 
valuable  in  teaching  states  of  the  United  States, 
boroughs  of  New  York  City,  countries  of  Europe. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  Tear  a  map  from  an 
old  geography  and  paste  it  on  heavy  cardboard. 
Cut  up  into  irregular  portions  and  shuffle  well. 
Then  let  the  child  build  up  the  map  on  his  desk. 
The  lines  for  cutting  should  be  carefully  selected; 
usually  they  should  be  boundary  lines. 

Exercise  5 

Grade.  —  Fifth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  In  this,  as  in  all  the  succeeding 
exercises  in  geography,  the  value  depends  upon  the 
teaching  which  precedes  the  use  of  the  exercises. 
If  used  without  previous  careful  teaching,  the  ex- 
ercises are  unpedagogical  in  the  extreme,  and  are 
a  return  to  the  old  days  of  rote  work  and  memorized 
answers  to  map  questions.  If  used  as  busy  work 
supplementary  to  teaching,  according  to  proper 
methods,  they  form  an  invaluable  means  of  drill, 
of  reenforcing  and  fixing  facts,  already  presented, 


160  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

by  the  child's  own  activities  in  the  use  of  the  text- 
book. The  familiarity  with  maps  gained  by  these 
exercises  is  not  the  least  of  their  values. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Prepare  hektograph 
copies  of  the  following :- 

A  TRIP  TO  AFRICA 

Having  entered  the-  -Sea  from  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  through  the  Strait  of  -  — ,  we  stopped  for 
a  short  time  at  -  — ,  the  capital  of  Algiers. 

Monday,  we  started  on  a  trip  up  the  -  -  River. 
The  first  day  we  passed  the  city  of  -  — ,  near  which 
are  the  -  — ,  built  many  thousands  of  years  ago. 

Continuing  our  journey,  we  came  at  last  to  the 
lakes  -  — ,  -  — ,  and  -  — ,  the  sources  of  this  great 
river. 

Using  their  text-books,  the  children  must  decide 
on  the  missing  names,  which  they  then  insert,  and 
complete  the  story  of  the  trip.  Sometimes  this 
same  exercise  can  be  required  without  text-books, 
thus  forming  an  excellent  review. 

Exercise  6 

Grade.  —  Fourth  school  year  and  upwards. 
Aim  and  Value.  —  Stated  in  Exercise  5. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES    OF   BUSY  WORK          161 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  On  oak  tag  make 
hektographed  copies  of  the  map  of  the  hemispheres, 
marking  the  boundaries  of  the  continents  and  zones. 


With  the  aid  of  his  text-book  the  child  must  find  the 
location  and  name  of  each,  and  write  each  name  in 
its  proper  place.  He  may,  if  the  teacher  so  chooses, 
color  in  and  with  blue  crayon  mark  the  oceans. 

Exercise  7 

Grade.  —  Fifth  school  year  and  upwards. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  In  addition  to  values  stated 
previously,  the  child  learns  how  industries  develop 
as  a  result  of  natural  resources,  that  a  relation  ex- 
ists between  industries  and  population  and  between 
natural  resources  and  population. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  From  old  geographies 


1 62  TEACHING  CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

or  geographical  readers,  time-tables  and  booklets 
issued  by  railroads,  advertising  pages  of  magazines, 
collect  pictures  to  illustrate  the  development  and 
influence  of  some  one  product.  One  set  we  have 
collected  relates  to  iron,  and  includes,  among  others : 
i.  an  iron  mine,  2.  a  town  of  miners,  3.  an  iron 
furnace,  4.  casting  pig  iron,  5.  a  large  manufactur- 
ing plant  where  agricultural  implements  are  made. 
Make  these  pictures  the  subject  of  oral  and  written 
language  work.  Give  him  finally  the  whole  set  and 
tell  him  to  paste  them  on  oak  tag  in  order  of  the 
history  of  iron.  Require  him  to  find  all  places 
mentioned  on  the  map  in  his  text-book,  to  read  what 
his  text-book  says  of  each. 

Exercise  8 

Exercises  8,  9,  10,  n  are  exercises  of  progressive 
difficulty,  worked  out  with  reference  to  the  United 
States,  but  of  equal  value  in  teaching  Europe  or 
South  America. 

Aim  and  Value.  — As  stated  in  Exercise  5.  The 
definite  purpose  of  the  exercise  is  to  teach  the  names, 
location,  varying  size  of  the  states  of  the  Union, 
and  their  relation,  one  to  the  other,  in  direction  and 
distance. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   BUSY  WORK 


163 


Preparation  and  Method.  —  Provide  the  children 
with  hektographed  copies  of  the  map  of  the  United 


7r 


States.  Let  the  outline  of  each  state  be  clearly 
marked,  but  no  natural  features.  The  child  is  to 
color  in  the  states,  those  of  one  group  at  a  time. 

Exercise  9 

Aim  and  Value.  —  As  previously  stated. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Maps  of  exactly  the 
same  style  as  those  described  in  Exercise  8  are  pro- 
vided. The  child  is  to  draw  in,  consulting  his 
text-book,  the  rivers,  mountains,  lakes.  His  at- 
tention is  called  to  the  influence  of  these  natural 
features  upon  the  boundaries  of  states  and  the  separa- 


164 


TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 


tion  of  groups.     He  is  led  to  use  the  natural  features 
as  an  aid  in  remembering  the  location  of  certain 

states. 

Exercise  10 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   BUSY  WORK 


165 


Aim  and  Value.  —  As  previously  stated. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  A  map  of  the  United 
States  in  outline  is  provided  with  neither  natural 
features  nor  state  boundaries  marked.  In  succes- 
sive lessons  the  child  is  to  put  in  the  state  outlines, 
one  group  of  states  at  a  time,  and  when  these  are  all 
finished,  the  natural  features. 

Exercise  n 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  A  map  of  the  United 
States  in  outline  only  is  provided.  The  child  draws 


in  the  state  outlines,  one  group  at  a  time,  and  then 
writes  across  the  group  the  vegetable  and  mineral 
products  of  each  section  as  completed. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

PLANS   AND   TYPES    OF   SEAT  WORK 

Manual  Training 

BECAUSE  manual  exercises  are  sure  to  keep  a  seat- 
work  group  quiet,  and  because  they  are  apparently 
easy  to  plan  and  prepare,  they  have  long  been  re- 
garded as  the  most  obvious  means  of  providing  a 
class  with  busy  work;  but  it  is  a  mistaken  point  of 
view,  and  has  been  responsible  for  much  waste  of  time 
and  for  the  use  of  exercises  which  have  no  educational 
value.  This  misuse  of  manual  training,  more  than 
any  other  mistake  made  in  connection  with  the  use 
of  the  Group  System,  has  caused  deserved  contempt 
to  fall  upon  such  busy  work. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  it  is  claimed  that  the 
Group  System  teaches  the  child  habits  of  self-re- 
liant study.  No  means  within  the  teacher's  power 
is  so  certain  to  accomplish  this  aim  as  the  seat  work. 
Manual  training  exercises  are  an  exceedingly  valu- 
able aid,  but  they  must  be  carefully  planned  and 
carefully  supervised.  They  must  have  as  definite 
an  aim  and  as  definite  a  relation  to  the  course  of 
study  and  to  the  complete  training  of  the  child  as 

166 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK          167 

the  exercises  in  arithmetic  or  language.  The  teacher 
must  always  precede  the  doing  of  each  exercise  with 
sufficient  instruction,  so  that  the  child  can  be  fairly 
expected  to  continue  his  work  to  completion  without 
instruction  and  with  only  just  enough  supervision 
to  make  sure  that  he  obeys  directions. 

A  great  saving  of  time  accompanies  the  doing  of 
the  manual  exercises  as  seat  work.  When,  as  under 
the  system  of  class  instruction,  the  child  does  every 
piece  and  part  of  his  basket  or  of  his  sewing  or  other 
manual  work  under  the  teacher's  supervision,  much 
time  is  needed,  fewer  exercises  can  be  done,  and  the 
child  loses  the  necessary  practice  which  alone  can 
give  him  dexterity.  Furthermore,  the  teacher's  in- 
terest in  the  work  is  not  secured,  because  she  is 
tempted  to  slight  and  neglect  it  in  order  to  gain  time 
for  the  regular  branches,  which  she  regards  as  more 
essential,  and  in  which  her  pupils  are  likely  to  be 
examined  and  marked.  All  of  this  is  obviated  if 
the  manual  exercises  are  taught  in  class  and  then 
completed  as  seat  work. 

In  the  chapter  on  the  study  period,  suggestions  were 
given  as  to  the  keeping  of  material  and  tools  for 
manual  work  so  that  the  child  can  get  at  them  readily 
and  continue  his  work  whenever  he  has  a  leisure 


1 68  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

moment,  as  well  as  in  the  seat-work  period  when  he 
has  definite  instruction  for  so  doing.  When  used  in 
this  way,  the  withdrawal  of  the  privilege  of  working 
upon  some  much-liked  manual  exercise  is  a  severely 
felt  punishment  for  neglect  of  some  other  lesson.  A 
very  large  variety  of  exercises  and  styles  of  work  is 
permissible.  Many  of  these  exercises  can  be  used 
in  correlation  with  or  in  illustration  of  other  lessons, 
and  yet  at  the  same  time  can  be  made  to  provide 
all  the  art  and  manual  training  expected  from  this 
branch  of  work  by  makers  of  courses  of  study. 

Experiment  in  the  use  of  manual  work  in  the  man- 
ner here  suggested  has  been  made  in  all  the  schools 
where  the  Group  System  is  used  successfully.  In 
this  chapter  will  be  illustrated  only  the  results  of  such 
experiment.  The  teacher's  own  ingenuity  can  be 
relied  upon  for  extension  of  these  plans  and  their 
further  application.  Manual  exercises  of  great  in- 
terest and  definite  educational  value  may  be  found 
well  worked  out  in  two  books  on  seat-work  occupa- 
tions, one  by  Miss  Arnold  and  one  by  Miss  Oilman, 
and  teachers  are  referred  to  these  books  for  detailed 
suggestions  and  instructions  on  the  use  of  manual 
exercises  as  seat  work.  The  requirements  in  manual 
work  of  the  prescribed  course  of  study  should  be 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK          169 

sufficient  suggestion  as  to  types  of  exercises,  and  little 
help  further  can  be  given.  It  is  possible  that  a  few 
detailed  explanations  of  how  some  exercises  have 
been  done  may  prove  of  service  to  the  class-room 
teacher,  especially  as  showing  how  manual  work  as 
seat  work  and  other  lessons  may  be  combined. 

Exercise  i 

Grade.  —  Second,  third,  and  fourth  school  years. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  To  teach  measurements  and 
comparisons  and  to  give  practice  in  the  use  of  the 
ruler  and  in  ruling  to  measurement. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Cut  from  cardboard 
rectangles  of  different  sizes.  Place  a  dozen  or  more 
of  these  in  an  envelope.  As  seat  work  the  child  is 
to  measure  and  compare  the  rectangles.  The  first 
exercise  will  be  to  measure  the  perimeter  of  each. 
As  a  second  exercise,  let  him  find  the  center  of  each, 
at  first  by  drawing  lines,  and  later  by  measurement. 
A  third  exercise  is  to  find  the  area  of  each  of  these 
rectangles. 

Exercise  2 

Grade.  —  Second,  third,  and  fourth  school  years. 
Aim  and  Value.  —  As  in  the  preceding  exercise, 
with  the  added  value  of  cutting  to  a  given  line. 


1 70  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  Give  the  child  rulers 
and  cardboard  or  very  stiff  paper.  Let  the  children 
cut  rectangles  whose  lengths  are  different.  Draw- 
ing of  the  rectangles  in  the  lower  grades  should  be 
done  by  the  teacher ;  in  the  upper  grades,  by  the  chil- 
dren themselves.  As  a  later  extension  of  this  same 
exercise,  let  the  children  take  the  exact  measure- 
ments of  the  rectangle  and  make  a  comparison  of 
sizes.  Let  them  put  all  of  the  same  size  in  piles 

together. 

Exercise  3 

Grade.  —  Third  and  fourth  school  years. 

Aim  and  Value.  -  -  To  teach  measurement  and 
comparison.  To  give  practice  in  the  use  of  colored 
crayons.  To  correlate  with  the  teaching  of  frac- 
tions. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  A  lesson  on  the  frac- 
tions, ^,  J,  J,  must  precede,  and  the  relative  value  of 
these  fractions  must  be  thoroughly  taught.  As  seat 
work  the  teacher  requires  the  child  to  illustrate  the 
comparative  value  of  these  fractions  by  drawing  rec- 
tangles one  below  the  other.  The  first  rectangle 
is  not  divided.  The  second  is  divided  by  a  line  into 
halves ;  the  third  into  fourths ;  the  fourth  rectangle 
into  eighths.  The  original  rectangle,  which  repre- 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK          171 

sents  the  whole  or  one,  should  be  varied  in  size  on 
the  different  cards.  The  teacher's  preparation  of  this 
exercise  consists  in  the  drawing  of  the  original  rec- 
tangles on  different  cards  or  papers,  the  idea  being 
that  the  child  fills  out  the  drawings  to  show  the  halves, 
quarters,  and  eighths  below. 

Exercise  4 

Grade.  —  First  and  second  school  years. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  -  To  correlate  with  the  teaching 
of  counting  in  arithmetic  and  to  give  manual  exercise 
in  the  stringing  of  beads,  berries,  or  any  other  material 
that  the  teacher  may  have  at  hand. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  In  the  arithmetic 
period  the  children  have  been  taught  to  count  from 
one  to  twenty,  by  z's,  by  25s,  or  by  3'$.  For  the 
seat-work  period  the  teacher  gives  them  a  number 
of  strings  and  a  large  number  of  beads  of  different 
colors.  She  tells  them  to  place  twenty  beads  of  one 
color  on  each  string.  In  a  later  seat-work  period 
she  tells  them  to  string  them  by  2's,  and  in  a  still 
later,  by  3's.  This  exercise  can  also  be  performed 
with  the  use  of  peg  boards  and  pegs  of  different  colors. 


172  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

Exercise  5 

Grade.  —  First  year  and  following. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  To  teach  the  use  of  the  needle. 
To  train  in  muscular  control.  To  begin  the 
teaching  of  design.  To  give  training  in  accuracy. 
There  is  a  disciplinary  value  also  in  the  perseverance 
and  industry  required  in  order  to  complete  the  entire 
article  with  equal  excellence  in  all  its  parts. 

Preparation  and  Method.  -  -  Java  canvas,  worsted, 
and  a  coarse  needle  are  the  materials  needed.  The 
Java  canvas  gives  a  wide  field  for  seat  work.  Many 
stitches  and  designs  can  be  made,  and  the  completed 
work  may  take  the  form  of  a  great  many  articles  of 
known  value  and  interest  to  the  child.  Among  the 
articles  which  may  be  made  are :  needlecase,  napkin 
case,  necktie  case,  pencil  case,  table  cover,  book 
cover,  pillow  cover,  penwiper,  and  corners  for  a 
blotting  pad.  The  child  begins  his  work  in  a  lesson 
given  by  the  teacher  to  the  class.  He  then  learns 
the  stitch  to  be  used,  and  has  his  pattern  marked 
out  for  him  or  given  to  him.  He  finishes  his  work 
without  further  instruction,  and  with  just  enough 
supervision  to  insure  care  and  accuracy. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK          173 

Exercise  6 

Grade.  —  Second  school  year  and  following. 

Aim  and  Value.  —  To  teach  design  and  the  use 
of  colored  chalk,  or  crayon,  or  the  brush  with  either 
ink  or  water  colors.  Any  of  these  media  may  be 
used.  Incidentally,  the  training  in  neatness  the 
child  receives  when  left  to  care  for  his  own  mate- 
rials is  not  the  least  value  of  this  exercise. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  A  chart  containing 
many  different  forms  of  "  spots"  is  hung  in  sight. 

ot  n»o4  QI^^OI<=>^  *="-& 
**x  Y  YtiT  TT 


<* 

X°          ^          Vfv 


On  his  own  paper  the  child  practices  making"  spots.  " 
Later,  he  uses  one  or  two  of  these  forms  to  make  a 
simple  design. 

Exercise  7 

Grade.  -  -  Third  school  year  and  following. 
Aim  and  Value.  -  -  To  drill  in  measurement,  in 
use  of  scissors,  in  exactness  in  following  directions. 


174 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 


To  exercise  hands  and  fingers,  providing  training 
in  muscular  control.  To  prepare  for  the  use  of 
working  drawings. 

Preparation  and  Method.  —  On  a  chart  within  easy 
reach  of  the  child's  touch  the  teacher  pastes  a  box, 
made  from  paper  or  oak  tag,  and  a  drawing  such 
as  must  be  used  to  produce  a  similar  box.  Below 
the  drawing  the  teacher  writes  the  necessary  direc- 
tions. See  illustration.  The  child  is  provided  with 
pencil,  ruler,  heavy  paper  or  oak  tag,  scissors, 
and  paste.  He  is  allowed  to  handle  the  box  on  the 
chart  and  to  study  the  drawing,  after  which  he  copies 
the  drawing  on  his  own  paper,  cuts  according  to 
directions,  and  makes  his  own  box. 


o  o! 


Cut  on  dotted  \ines 


Be* 


These  two  simple  exercises  admit  of  infinite  varia- 
tion and  extension,  with  gradually  increasing  difri- 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK          175 

culty,  into  the  whole  field  of  design  and  of  construc- 
tion from  working  drawings. 

Exercise  8 

Exercises  in  basketry,  sewing,  leather,  bookbind- 
ing, etc.  The  child  is  to  be  allowed  to  progress 
in  the  making  of  his  article  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

Drawing    and    Constructive    Work    in    Connection 
with  the  Teaching  of  Reading 1 

The  plan  of  manual  work  here  given  is  the  one 
worked  out  to  accompany  the  story  reading  in  the 
first  year  at  P.  S.  137,  Miss  Marietta  J.  Tibbits, 
Principal. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  suggestions  given  regard- 
ing the  Manual  Training  Course  is  that  all  the  work 
of  a  class  shall  be  grouped  around  a  definite  center 
of  interest.  I  like  that  last  word  interest.  Good 
teachers  have  always  planned  their  drawing  some- 
times for  a  week,  a  month,  a  term,  trying  conscien- 
tiously to  cover  all  the  points  they  felt  were  required 
by  those  in  authority.  By  the  introduction  of  the 
word  interest  these  more  or  less  formal  plans  are  made 
alive.  The  teacher  must  approach  her  work  from 

1  Reprinted  by  permission  from  School  Work,  Volume  7,  Number  i. 


176  TEACHING   CHILDREN  TO   STUDY 

a  different  point  of  view.  It  is  not  a  question  only 
of  what  she  thinks  wise,  she  must  also  decide  whether 
the  subject  will  be  a  center  of  interest  for  her  class. 
Before  reaching  this  decision,  she  must  consider  two 
questions :  - 

i.  Does  it  make  a  direct  appeal  to  the  child's 
normal  and  healthy  interests  by  starting  with  some- 
thing he  already  knows  ? 

2.  Does  it  offer  an  opportunity  to  create,  intensify, 
and  direct  new  interests  through  observation  and 
imagination  ? 

So  the  work  of  the  class  is  unified  and  given  an 
aim.  The  wisdom  of  her  choice  of  subjects  can  only 
be  told  by  watching  the  children  at  work.  The  in- 
terest is  the  pulse  of  the  class,  and  the  wise  teacher 
keeps  her  finger  always  on  it.  Only  so  can  she  judge 
whether  all  is  well,  not  only  with  the  children  but 
with  herself.  Before  deciding  that  the  center  she 
has  chosen  is  too  difficult  for  the  class,  she  must  ask 
herself  if  she  is  giving  to  it  the  enthusiasm  which  will 
breathe  into  it  the  breath  of  life.  President  Eliot 
has  said, "  Children  are  not  worked  to  death  but  bored 
to  death."  Let  us  not  be  guilty  of  that  crime.  No 
more  time  was  given  to  it  than  the  schedule  requires. 
Indeed,  less  time  is  needed,  because  the  preparation 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK  177 

is  found  in  the  language  work.  There  is  an  inex- 
haustible store  from  which  to  draw  material  for  con- 
versation and  nature  lessons. 

This  is  in  brief  a  conversation  lesson  preparatory 
to  the  drawing  of  "The  Little  Red  Hen"  :- 

(a)  A  short  review  of   the   nature  lesson  on  the 
cock  and  hen. 

(b)  Would  you  like  a  little  red  hen  for  a  pet? 
(All  delighted.) 

(c)  If  you  had  one  for  a  pet,  how  would  you  treat 
her  ?     Be  good  to  her. 

(d)  If  you  are  good  to  her,  what  must  you  do  ? 
Feed  her. 

(e)  What  would  you  feed  her?     Corn. 

This  afternoon  we  will  draw  pictures  of  ourselves 
feeding  our  little  red  hen. 

So  with  every  story  there  is  some  lesson  of  nature 
or  ethics  that  appeals  to  the  children. 

The  teachers  did  not  feel  such  work  a  burden. 
Perhaps  they  shared  the  work  and  so  found  a  center 
of  interest  for  themselves. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  finding  subjects  for  the 
lessons.  The  children,  with  their  vivid  imaginations 
and  power  to  make  believe,  suggest  endless  topics. 
The  only  difficulty  lies  in  a  discriminating  choice. 


178  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 

The  children  do  not  find  the  drawing  difficult. 
When  I  asked  one  of  the  i  A  teachers  how  she  man- 
aged to  get  the  children  to  make  the  hencoop  and 
little  red  hen,  she  replied,  "Oh,  they  love  it !" 

No  doubt  this  is  true  because  of  the  opportunity 
given  to  the  child  to  express  his  own  personality. 
The  story  of  "The  Kid"  is  his  story,  and  the  first 
lesson  is  a  pose  drawing  of  a  child  to  represent  him- 
self as  the  boy  whose  father  bought  a  kid.  In  a 
class  of  girls  this  pose  drawing  would  be  of  a  girl. 
So  the  child  is  led  from  his  individual  interest  to 
the  lesson  of  mutual  dependence  and  helpfulness  in 
the  story  of  "The  Old  Woman"  and  her  beautiful 
bush  of  berries. 

Each  story  is  illustrated  by  the  children,  and  in- 
terest is  increased  by  placing  their  illustrations  on 
charts  on  the  wall.  An  opportunity  is  given,  when 
group  work  is  finished,  for  the  children  to  make  or 
draw  something  else  that  will  help  to  tell  the  story. 
This  free  illustrative  work  has  been  very  clever  in 
many  cases. 


i8o 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 


OBJECT 
DRAWING. 

Child's  shoe 


i.    THE    KID 
CONSTRUCTION. 


ILLUSTRATIVE. 


Pose,  child 
(His  own  story) 

Pose,  father 


Father  buying  kid 


Child's  shoe 

Child's  mitten 

(Tearing) 
Father's  hat         Father's  coat 

(Cutting) 

Father's  hat 

(Tearing) 

Pail  Pail 

(To  carry  water  Butcher's  apron 

to  quench  fire)  (Cutting) 
Butcher's  knife  Butcher's  knife    Butcher  with  knife 

Butcher's  hatchet 

(Cutting) 

Objects  and  toys  are  used  as  models  for  the  object 
drawing  and  construction.  The  object  is  purposely 
repeated  each  week  in  the  construction  lesson,  as 
it  can  then  be  used  as  seat  work,  the  child  working 
alone.  This  repetition  also  gives  a  vivid  mental 
picture  for  the  illustrative  drawing. 


PLANS   AND    TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK          181 


182 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 


2.    THE    HOUSE    THAT    JACK   BUILT 


OBJECT 

DRAWING. 
Bag  of  malt 


Hammer 


Cock 


CONSTRUCTION.     ILLUSTRATIVE. 


Bag  of  malt 
(Tearing) 
House 
(Folding  and 

Cutting) 
Shovel 
Ladder 
(Cutting) 
Table 
Chair 
(Folding  and 

Cutting) 


Jack      building 
house 


Milkmaid 
(Maiden  all  for- 
lorn) 
Wedding 
(Maiden  all  for- 
lorn and  man 
all       tattered 
and  torn) 
The  tools  are  those  Jack  used  to  build  the  house. 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK          183 


184 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 


3.    THE    LITTLE    RED    HE1N 


OBJECT 

DRAWING. 
Red  hen 


CONSTRUCTION. 


Hencoop 
(Folding  and 

Cutting) 
Red  hen 
(Cutting) 

Watering  can      Watering  can 
Rake 
(Cutting) 

Wheelbarrow       Mill 

(Folding  and 

cutting) 
Pin  wheel 
(Wheel  for  mill) 

Stove  Wheelbarrow 

(Cutting) 

Rolling-pin 
(Tearing) 


ILLUSTRATIVE. 
Girl  feeding  hen 


Girl  watering  corn 


Miller 

(Giving    meal    to 
red  hen) 


Woman 

(Baking  bread  for 
red  hen) 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT  WORK          185 


i86  TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO    STUDY 

4.    THE    CAT    AND    THE    MOUSE 


OBJECT 

DRAWING. 
Cat 


Butcher's 
cleaver 


CONSTRUCTION.       ILLUSTRATIVE 


Cat 

Basket 

(Cutting) 

Baker's  cart 

(Cutting) 

Counter 

(Folding) 


Girl  feeding  cat 


Farmer 


THE   OLD   WOMAN  AND   HER   PIG 

ILLUSTRATIVE. 


OBJECT  CONSTRUCTION. 

DRAWING. 
Broom 


Push  cart 


Clock 

(At  midnight) 


Broom 

Dustpan 

(Cutting) 

Push  cart 

Pocketbook 

(Cutting) 

Stile 

Fence 

(Folding  and 
cutting) 


Woman  sweeping 


Woman    carrying 
basket 

Woman      driving 
Pig 


PLANS   AND   TYPES   OF   SEAT   WORK          187 


i88 


TEACHING   CHILDREN   TO   STUDY 


The  reason  for  the  selection  of  the  push  cart  to 
illustrate  going  to  market  was  that  the  children  in 
this  neighborhood  are  only  familiar  with  the  push- 
cart market. 

6.    THE    WOMAN    AND    HER    BEAUTIFUL 
BUSH    OF    BERRIES 


OBJECT 

DRAWING. 
Horseshoe 


Bush 


CONSTRUCTION. 

Horseshoe 
Ax 

(Cutting) 
Tongs 
(Cutting) 
Bush 

(Tearing  and 
coloring) 


ILLUSTRATIVE. 

Smith 
(Making  shoes) 

Woman 
(Picking  berries) 


PLANS   AND    TYPES    OF    SEAT   WORK  189 


INDEX 


Addition,  seat  work  in,  134. 
Advantages     of      Group      System, 

12-23. 
Arithmetic,     seat     work     in,     39, 

133-146. 

Basis  of  classification,  34;  constant 
groups,  34;  shifting  groups,  35. 

Basketry,  seat  work  in,  175. 

Batavia  plan  of  promotion,  7. 

Beads,  stringing,  as  seat  work,  171, 
39- 

Cambridge  plan  of  promotion,  6. 

Cardboard  construction,  seat  work 
in,  169-174;  correlated  with 
Reading  for  seat  work,  180- 
189. 

Care  of  materials  for  seat  work,  81. 

Classification  into  groups,  34;  il- 
lustrations, 38. 

Composition,  seat  work  in,  102- 
132. 

Constant  group  scheme,  24;  in 
favor  of,  27;  arguments 
against,  28;  how  to  classify,  34. 

Correction  of  seat  work,  74. 

Counting,  seat  work  in,  39-40, 
171. 

Cutting,  seat  work  in,  180-189; 
correlated  with  Reading  for  seat 
work,  180-189. 

Demand  on  teacher's  time,  21. 
Design,  seat  work  in,  172-173. 
Devices  for  seat  work,  74,  86-189. 
Directions  for  seat  work,  79. 


Discipline  as  affected  by  Group 
System,  14;  as  an  aid  to  disci- 
pline, 18. 

Distribution  of  materials  for  seat 
work,  82. 

District.  Schools,  i;  the  beginning 
of  education,  i. 

Division,  seat  work  in,   134,   141- 

145- 

Drawing,  seat  work  in,  170;  cor- 
related with  Reading  for  seat 
work,  175-189. 

Education  a  principle  of  American 

government,  i. 

Elizabeth  plan  of  grouping,  8. 
Exceptional    child,    neglect    of,    5; 

providing  for,  7-9. 
Experiments    with    Group    System 

in  New  York  City,  10. 

Fractions,  seat  work  in,  142. 

Geography,  seat  work  in,  156-165. 

German  Blocking  System  of  pro- 
motion, 7. 

Grade  group  plan,  26,  32. 

Graded  school,  2;  results  for  good 
or  evil,  3. 

Grammar,  seat  work,  122-128. 

Group  System  an  evolution  and 
compromise,  n;  in  special 
classes  in  New  York,  9;  limi- 
tations and  advantages,  12-23. 

History,  seat  work  in,  147-155. 
How   to   classify   into   groups,   35; 


191 


192 


INDEX 


into  Shifting  Groups,  35;    illus- 
trations, 38. 

Illustrations  of  classifying  into 
groups,  38. 

Illustrative  drawing,  seat  work  in, 
180-189;  correlated  with  Read- 
ing for  seat  work,  180-189. 

Instruction  period,  58-67;  pur- 
poses of,  58-60;  seating  during, 
61-67. 

Keep  every  child  busy,  79. 

Language,  seat  work  in,  102-132. 
Letter  Writing,  seat  work  in,  119- 

122. 
Limitations  of  Group  System,  12-23. 

Manual  training,  value  of,  as  seat 
work,  56;  correlated  with  Read- 
ing for  seat  work,  175-189; 
types  of  seat  work  in,  166-188. 

Map  study,  seat  work  in,  157-165. 

Meaning  and  Use  of  Words,  seat 
work  in,  129. 

Measurements,  seat  work  in,  169- 

J73- 
Memory  Gems,  seat  work  in,  117, 

118. 
Multiplication,  seat  work  in,  134, 

139-145. 

Number,  seat-work  exercises  in 
first  year,  39. 

Paper,  folding,  seat  work  in,  180- 
189;  correlated  with  Reading 
for  seat  work,  180-189;  cutting 
and  tearing,  180-189. 

Paragraphing,  seat  work  in,  109, 
in,  114,  118. 

Penmanship,  in  relation  to  seat 
work,  71. 


Phonics,  seat  work  in,  88-91,  93, 

95-99,  J32- 

Planning  work  easier  under  Group 
System,  47. 

Plans  for  seat  work,  86. 

Problems  in  arithmetic,  seat  work 
in,  139. 

Programs,  20;  as  a  difficulty,  20; 
essential  considerations,  55;  the 
daily  program,  47-57;  time  as- 
signments, 48;  typical  programs, 
51-54;  writing  a  time  schedule, 
So. 

Pueblo  plan  of  promotion,  6. 

Pupil  teachers  in  seat  work,  80. 

Pupil  teacher  plan  of  promotion,  7. 

Purpose  of  instruction  period,  58- 
60. 

Reading,  correlated  with  Manual 
Training  for  seat  work,  175-189; 
grouping  apt  to  be  constant,  45; 
seat  work  in,  86-101. 

Reform  of  methods  of  teaching,  3. 

Reproduction,  seat  work  in,  116. 

Seating  during  instruction  period, 
61-67;  plans  for,  61-67. 

Seat  work:  aims  of,  68;  as  a  dif- 
ficulty, 13;  basketry,  175;  cor- 
rection of,  74;  counting,  171; 
care  of  materials,  81 ;  cardboard 
construction,  169,  170,  174,  180- 
189;  definite  assignment,  77; 
distribution  of  materials,  82; 
design,  172,  173;  division,  141- 
145;  drawing,  170,  175-189; 
every  child  busy,  79;  fractions, 
142;  geography,  156-165;  gram- 
mar, 122-128;  history,  147-155; 
interest  in,  72;  illustrative  draw- 
ing, 180-189;  manual  training, 
167-189;  map  study,  157-165; 
multiplication,  139-145*,  meas- 


INDEX 


193 


urements  and  comparisons,  169, 
170,173;  penmanship,  71;  prac- 
tical management,  79-85;  pupils 
teachers  in,  80;  phonics,  88-91, 
93.  95.  99,  i32;  PaPer  cutting, 
180-189;  questions  and  direc- 
tions, 79;  real  study,  69;  rela- 
tion to  course  of  study,  70; 
reading,  86-101 ;  supervision  of, 
75;  saving  devices  for,  74;  sew- 
ing, 172,  175;  stringing  beads, 
171;  tables,  134-145;  text -books, 
73,  146-155,  156-165. 

Sentence  Structure,  seat  work  in, 
102,  104,  107,  109,  in,  117,  122, 
127,  129. 

Sewing,  seat  work  in,  172,  175. 

Schemes  of  grouping,  24;  constant 
group  plan,  24;  grade  group 
plan,  26;  shifting  group  plan, 

25- 

Shifting  group  scheme,  25;  argu- 
ments against,  31;  how  to  class- 
ify into,  35;  in  favor  of,  30; 
illustrations,  38. 

Size  of  classes,  20. 


Special  classes  in  New  York  City, 

the  Group  System  in,  9. 
Special  plans  of  promotion,  6. 
Spelling,    seat    work   in,    96,    130- 

132. 

Study  period,  68-85. 
Subjects  in  which  to  group,  44. 
Subtraction,  seat  work  in,  134. 
Supervision  of  seat  work,  75. 

Tables,  seat  work  in,  134-145. 
Teachers'    training    in    relation    to 

Group  System,  19. 
Telling  time,  seat  work  in,  133. 
Text-book,   use  of,  as    seat  work, 

146-165. 

Time  assignments  on  program,  48. 
Time  schedule,  50. 
Type  forms  of  statements,  seat  work 

in,  127-129. 
Types  of  seat  work,  86. 

Variation  in  constitution  of  groups, 

44-46. 
Verbs,  seat  work  in    correction  of 

errors,  122-127. 


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Course  of  Study  in  the  Eight  Grades. 

Vol.1.       Grades  I  to  IV.     vii  +  236 pages.  $.75  net. 

Vol.11.     Grades  V  to  VIII.     v  + 226  pages.  $.75  net. 

Special  Method  in  History.  vii  +  297  pages.  $.75  net. 

Special  Method  in  Arithmetic.  vii  +  225 pages.  $.70  net. 

Special  Method  in  Geography.  xi  +  217  pages.  $.70  net. 

—  Special  Method  in  Elementary  Science.  ix  +  275 pages.  $.75-  net. 

Nature  Study  Lessons  for  Primary  Grades.     By  Mrs.  Lida  B.  McMurry, 

with  an  Introduction  by  Charles  A.  McMurry.     xi-\-  i()i  pages.     $.60  net. 


MONROE,  PAUL.  A  Brief  Course  in  the  History  of  Education.  By  Paul 
Monroe,  Ph.D.,  Professor  in  the  History  of  Education,  Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University.  Cloth.  8vo.  xviii-\- 409  pages.  $1.25  net. 

—  A  Text-book  in  the  History  of  Education. 

Cloth,    xxiii  +  277  pages.     I2mo.     $f.qo  net. 

—  A  Source  Book  of  the  History  of  Education.    For  the  Greek  and  Roman 
Period.  Cloth.    xiii-\- 515  pages.     8vo.     $2.25  net. 

O'SHEA,  M.  V.  Dynamic  Factors  in  Education.  By  M.  V.  O'Shea,  Pro- 
fessor  of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

Cloth.    I2mo.     xiii-\- 320  pages.     $r.2^  net. 

— —  Linguistic  Development  and  Education. 

Cloth.     I2mo.    xvii+ 347  pages.    $1.25  net. 


A  LIST  OF  BOOKS  FOR  TEACHERS  —  Continued 


PARK,  JOSEPH  C.  Educational  Woodworking  for  Home  and  School.  By 
Joseph  C.  Park,  State  Normal  and  Training  School,  Oswego,  N.Y. 

Cloth,     22tno.     xiii-\- 310  pages,  illus.     $1.00  net. 

PERRY,  ARTHUR  C.  The  Management  of  a  City  School.  By  Arthur  C. 
Perry,  Jr.,  Ph.D.,  Principal  of  Public  School  No.  85,  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

Cloth.     I2mo.    viii  +  350  pages .     $r.2$  net. 

ROWE,  STUART  H.  The  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child.  By  Dr.  Stuart  H. 
Rowe,  Professor  of  Psychology  and  the  History  of  Education,  Training 
School  for  Teachers,  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

Cloth.    I2mo.    vi  + 2ii  pages.     $.90  net. 

ROYCE,  JOSIAH.  Outlines  of  Psychology.  An  Elementary  Treatise  with 
some  Practical  Applications.  By  Josiah  Royce,  Professor  of  the  History 
of  Philosophy  in  Harvard  University. 

Cloth-    I2mo.     xxvii-\- 392  pages.     $i.oonet. 

SHAW,  EDWARD  R.    School  Hygiene.     By  the  late  Edward  R.  Shaw. 

Cloth.     vii-\- 255  pages.    i2mo.    $i.oonet. 

SHURTER,  EDWIN  DuBois.  The  Rhetoric  of  Oratory.  By  the  Associate 
Professor  of  Public  Speaking  in  the  University  of  Texas. 

Cloth.    323 pages.    I2mo.    $1.10  net. 

SMITH,  DAVID  E.  The  Teaching  of  Elementary  Mathematics.  By  David 
E.  Smith,  Professor  of  Mathematics,  Teachers  College,  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. Cloth,  xv +31 2  pages.  I2mo.  $r.oonet. 

SNEDDEN  AND  ALLEN.  School  Reports  an^  School  Efficiency.  By  David 
S.  Snedden,  Ph.D.,  and  Wil.iam  H.  All.  n,  Ph.D.  For  the  New  York 
Committee  on  Physical  Welfare  of  School  Children. 

Cloth.     I2mo.    xi  +  183 pages.    $1.50  net. 

VANDEWALKER,  NINA  C.  The  Kindergarten  in  American  Education. 
By  Nina  C.  Vandewalker,  Director  of  Kindergarten  Training  Department, 
Milwaukee  State  Normal  School. 

Cloth.     xiii  +  274 pages.    Por tr.,  index,  i2tno.    $1.25  net. 

WARNER,  FRANCIS.  The  Study  of  Children  and  Their  School  Training. 
By  Francis  Warner.  Cloth,  xix  +  264  pages.  I2mo.  $f.oo  net. 

WINTERBURN  AND  BARK.     Methods  in  Teaching.     Being  the  Stockton 
Methods  in  Elemental y  Schools.     Hv  Mrs.  R.>s;i  V.  Winterburn,  of  Los 
Angeles,  and  James  A.'liarr,  Superintendent  of  Schools  at  Stockton,  Cal. 
Cloth.    xii+ 355 pages.     I2mo.     $1.25  net. 


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